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anakiinhighwalker · 2 years

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Star Wars Boys and how they are in relationships!

> Obi Wan Kenobi 🪐

Loving is a word that can definitely describe Obi Wan. He’d cater to your every need, he’d take care of you whether you’re sick or unwell, he’d even go as far as to make excuses on leaving missions early to check up on you if you really ask him to.

Obi Wan struggles quite a bit, though. For as loving as he is, he still feels guilt for violating the Jedi Code—something he values quite closely. Despite that, he will always choose you over the Code, no matter what day, month or year.

He’s a gentle lover. He hates being rough with you; it’s unmannerly and rude! He loves to make you feel appreciated in an old fashioned yet effective way. Obi Wan leans more to being a kind boyfriend who loves to wind down and watch the sunset rather than to roughhouse or debate.

That being said, Obi Wan does not shy away from arguments. He’s very outspoken about his ideas, beliefs and his morals. The many times he argues with Anakin and even the Jedi Council should show how he’s not afraid to speak his mind.

Obi Wan’s kisses are otherworldly to put it simply. You have no idea how a Jedi, someone who should be single and detached from the materialistic world, is so good at kissing. His soft kisses are incredible to experience. They make you feel soft tingles in your back and arms; you love everything about his kisses.

You’ll never have to worry about your sweet Kenobi becoming jealous because this man rarely ever gets jealous. Not just because of his well sized ego of him being a famed War General, it’s also because of the tremendous trust and faith he has in you. The love of his life would never leave or doubt him. He just knows it. However, he will get jealous and be protective if he feels you’re being targeted by some creep.

His more rough kisses are still as rewarding. Often his more passionate kisses come from a long struggle in a battle, a fight or a mission that nearly cost him you. They’re like a shooting star crashing into you but instead of exploding and destroying, it engulfs you with its warmth and simple adoration.

You’re special to him. I mean, you were enough to make THE General Kenobi go against the Jedi Code. You’re someone he treasures, someone he adores and feels nothing but love to.

I can’t stress enough how much Obi Wan loves you. You relax him when he needs to relax and rile him up before a long, hard mission. You’re everything he’s ever wanted.

Quality time is something you will always get with him. Even if it’s just a simple 5 minute intervention before a takeoff, he’s right there with you sneaking tiny kisses.

Give him hugs he likes your hugs :)

> Anakin Skywalker 💫

Where do I even begin with Anakin? He’s passionate, adoring, loving, protective and incredibly emotional. This man is literally guided by his emotions.

You’re his. And his alone. Whether you’re his crush, his fiancé, his spouse, you mean everything to him. He will actually destroy the world to keep you safe. Anakin adores you so much that it actually hurts him when he can’t hold you and kiss you.

Speaking of his kisses, is this man passionate. He’s always rough even when he doesn’t mean to be rough. Kissing you is always a magical experience for him so he often challenges himself subconsciously to sweep you off your feet. And boy, does he do exactly that!

He lifts and spins you when he hugs/kisses you, he holds you bravely in front of every Jedi who can see, he’s always touching you and that ranges passing shoulder rubs or him basically trapping you between his strong arms and broad chest.

Anakin is infatuated with you. You mean so much to him. He simply adores you. When he loves you, I genuinely mean Anakin loves you. When he first fell for you, he really believed you were Jedi mind tricking him into loving you so vividly and adoringly.

He’s adoring and protective but he can be overprotective a lot of the time. He made a silent promise to never lose a loved one ever again and he intends to keep it no matter how difficult situations get. That mentality is worsened by his belief that he will do everything in his power to keep you safe and sound, even if that meant you hating him for it.

Jealous. It’s extraordinary how Obi Wan is so relaxed with potential rivals but his Padawan isn’t. Anakin literally seethes whenever he feels like you’re being eyeballed by a too friendly man. He doesn’t care about titles either. Did you see how he whooped Clovis’ ass? It’s like Anakin gets primal when he feels jealous/possessive. He disregards who he is as the Chosen One and disregards who he’s facing. Nobody will ever harm or take you away. Ever.

He’s passionate and fiery 24/7 unless he’s tired and about to fall asleep. He doesn’t rant a lot about his ideas because he’s honestly too awkward to go on rants like that by the fly. But, he’ll of course hear you out and by hear I mean Anakin intently listens to you.

Good boyfriend :)

> Din Djarin

Inexperienced and shy. No convincing me otherwise. Dude is a struggle when it comes to removing his fucking helmet so I feel like Din wouldn’t really be super experienced in love. He’s more of a punch your feelings out type of guy, Y’know?

Regardless of his shyness and inexperience, he fucking loves you. He’s super awkward about holding you but when he holds you, my God does he hold you so right. You feel so loved and so cozy and so warm even when he’s wearing his Mandalorian armor!

Din loves everything about you. He really does. He doesn’t know exactly how to show it or how to say it but when you do something—anything, he feels like a teen boy getting his first real crush. You’re so amazing and he doesn’t even know how.

Helmet bumps. It’s odd to many people but to you? It means the world. Din is really introverted so when he openly shows his love to you by gently nodding his helmet to your temple or forehead, you’re over the moon. You kiss his helmet back and that’s when Grogu starts to giggle because Din looks silly with so many kisses on his helmet.

P R O T E C T I V E. He’s almost as bad as Anakin. That’s not an exaggeration, he will protect you with everything he has. Of course, he won’t stop you from battle; he’s a Mandalorian by oath. He has to respect warriors and fighters. But this clashes with his own trauma and how he goes about it. He loves you too much to let you get hurt. So he finds the balance. He will respect your battles until you speak up for his help or you desperately need his help.

Not much of a smooth talker. Not much of a talker at all. He shows his love in little ways like how he gives you the bigger side of breads or how he gives you more space to nap in his little cozy spot under Grogu. And yes, he does sleep in his armor.

He gets really chatty during late times in the Razor Crest, surprisingly. Grogu’s fast asleep and dreaming about as many frogs as one can hope for, you’re sitting next to him and it just kinda brings out the chatty cat in him. You two often talk about current events, the future, things you like, Grogu, anything you can ever think of you two have probably talked about it.

Din respects your privacy as much as you respects his. You mean so much to him. He’s godlike when it comes to giving you space. ALSO HE CHEWS WITH HIS MOUTH CLOSE THANK YOU DIN.

Not really jealous but not really Obi Wan’s level of chill. He distrusts every stranger automatically so he puts himself between you and random strangers at bars. He’s always on the lookout for potential creeps and when he gets a feeling something will start, he immediately shuts it down and takes you away from that situation. Never gonna catch him lacking.

> Han Solo 🍶

He’s annoyingly in love with you. He teases you and embarrasses you with how loving he can be sometimes. Han likes to lean against walls or even corner you and beg for kisses before Chewie starts laughing at his flirting. If he towers over you, you bet he will definitely use that to his advantage.

Passionate kisser, no matter what time or day is it. Han loves to kiss you with as much passion as he because you’re the love of his life; you’re the bread to his jam. You will never ever be kissed by Han in a soft way, he’s always so passionate and honest with his kisses.

PDA God. You think Anakin’s bad wait until you meet Han Solo. He’s the king of holding your waist so close to his you’re practically hip to hip. Han has never kept his hands or himself whenever you two touched down anywhere. Of course, Han respects your boundaries. Never would he put his hands on your privates or somewhere you explicitly said you don’t want him to.

The king of kisses. You could doing anything, you could just be helping Luke or Leia and Han comes up behind you and begins to kiss your cheek and your temple and everywhere in your face. He just loves that feeling of holding you and you complaining about his sloppy kisses is like music to his ears.

Nobody messes with Han Solo’s sweetheart. He is so protective when it comes to protecting you, so much so that he gets violent. Not to you, never you, but to the person who’s messing/flirting with you. Han has a pattern of asking you “Is this schmuck messing with you?” before absolutely destroying the creep either with his hands or his gun.

The definition of a brag. He brags all the time. His ego isn’t that big but he’s not that humble at all. He loves it when you join in and praise him, he loves getting praised. He also really loves to give and receive compliments so make sure to always compliment your dumb scoundrel about how handsome he looks.

He’s so adoring. He will buy you anything. He will actually spend so much money on you that you AND Chewie have to remind him not to.

Bro will wear a shitty sweater u made him :)

> Luke Skywalker 🌙

He’s so soft. Like wayyy softer than Obi Wan. When Luke touches you, he’s so gentle and his fingers barely have any pressure on them. Even his metal arm is so gentle and hardly grazes you.

Like Din, he’s shy. He’s a moisture farmer from Tatooine. His first kiss was with some girl he hardly remembers. He’s very shy so what often happens is Luke will simply just hold your hand or stand really close to you in public. Unlike Solo, he’s very reserved when it comes to affection.

Luke is very soft spoken. He’s such a good storyteller too! He tells you all about his misadventures and how much he’s seen as well as what it’s like to be one of the few remaining Jedi. When you’re with Luke, you’re never bored or anything—he’s always telling you about his life. And, for as much as he tells you he wants you to tell him about your life, too.

Kiss his cheek and Luke will bite back his boyish smile. Kiss his lips and Luke will literally lay on his back, smiling like a goof and staring into nothing. He’s so into you that one day he wants to make you his spouse. He’s already planning out his wedding ideas!

You are the thing that motivates him the most from anybody else. Whether it be your kisses or your dreams, Luke is so inspired and deeply in love with you. He’d do anything to make your dreams a reality.

Protective to a T. He’s very outspoken and will speak up if someone is bothering you, and even if he’s not a hulking 6’6 figure, he will intimidate many people with just how fiercely protective he is over you.

He doesn’t strike me as jealous, he seems to reason everything in his mind. But since no one is perfect, he obviously will have his moments of weakness and will get jealous. Please reassure him with kisses and embraces.

You will always get a hug before and after a battle. You help ground Luke back to reality. :)

> Captain Rex (I love this man)🌛

He’s super professional. He won’t cuddle you at all during missions and just keeps his distance so that you two don’t end up fooling off. However…

Once that ship lands, Rex is staying near you 200% of the time. He will do everything and anything in his power to keep you safe during battles. Even if Rex seems a little cold during missions, just know that in his mind nothing is run in more rapid than his thoughts on you and your well-being.

His kisses are strong. They’re confident and he definitely knows what he’s doing (seriously, where did he learn this stuff?). When he kisses you there is always a wave of reassurance and love that passes over you. And you’re pretty sure that the same wave of love passes over Rex with how much love he had in eyes for you.

You’re funny if you think Rex isn’t protective. He was made a soldier and is under General Skywalker’s command, one of the most possessive and protect man to ever exist for the Jedi. So Rex has certainly picked up his own protective personality. This man is the definition of overthinking and ready to fight for his babygirl.

PDA really isn’t his style; it’s too much for him. He likes to show his love in his own way. Like when he invites you to help him clean his armor or when he teaches you how to do things like fix an entire Republic ship engine by yourself with just duct tape and a screwdriver. He thinks love showed be shown in ‘productive’ ways.

That doesn’t mean Rex doesn’t hug or kiss you. Like I said before, his kisses are strong and safe. His hugs even stronger. You’ll melt into his delicious arms.

Not that jealous of a boyfriend. Rex never gets jealous because he hates dragging negativity from a third party into your relationship. He’s very mature and rationalizes people flirting with you. He won’t get violent immediately but he will if it means protecting you.

Rex calls you soldier affectionately. Look me in the fucking eyes and tell me he wouldn’t call you soldier affectionately.

He brings you cool rocks or cool (safe) plants he finds on planets he visits :)

> Commander Cody 🌜

He’s kinda like Rex except he’s like, slightly more dramatic and the only reason he’s more dramatic is because of Obi Wan ‘Hello There’ Kenobi.

He’s a little more open to affection than most other clones. He’ll kiss your cheek before and after a battle, rub your knuckles if there’s a rough landing and reassure you verbally that everything will be fine.

Cody prioritizes the mission but there are times where he orders his men to carry out the mission to rescue you or go after you and keep you safe. He can’t bare the thought of losing you like he’s lost so many of his brothers.

Not big on PDA, very reserved with his little moments of love. He doesn’t want his men to see him as a big softie, too. Especially not General Kenobi.

Likes to sit down and just sit there in silence next to you, watching clones tinker with the ships and the platoons helping shinies around. You two might even hold hands secretly watching the organization of squads.

Cody isn’t jealous THAT IS unless he is in a petty mood. If you two have a fight and you go jogging up to Rex to tell him the General’s orders before him, he will get slightly petty verbally. Like he’ll make a passing comment about how you seem to like Rex over him.

You two don’t argue a lot. That is unless Cody gets petty. You love that big goof regardless of his petty moments.

HE IS SO SASSY SOMETIMES. You think he’s been hanging around Obi Wan too much.

The type of boyfriend to let you measure his hands next to yours and see how big/small your hands are to his.

He is in love with you bro. He’s infatuated. He didn’t even know he could fall in love until he met you. You swept him off his feet. But don’t actually sweep Cody off of his feet because he will feel embarrassed :)

#star wars x reader #din djarin #luke skywalker #anakin skywalker x reader #obi wan kenobi x reader #captain rex x reader #commander cody x reader #han solo x reader #luke skywalker x reader #din djarin x reader #501st x reader #imma write a part 2 with mommy Ventress #obi wan and anakin

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bsd-fan · 1 month

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How mentally unwell you think Chuuya is?

Your takes on his character are the best so i will be glad to hear your take on this

PD: thank you for the perfect analysis you do <3

Hey! Thank you so much for your kind words 💖

And I’m really sorry to be answering this so late but life has been crazy this last weeks. I want to say that when I got the notification of this question I was at work so I just read the first part and I was /Convinced/ someone has asked me how mentally unwell I was and I laughed out loud because the answer is a lot but I couldn’t figure out why someone would ask it like that 😭 Then I realized it was about chuuya and everything made more sense lol.

Now going with the actual question (and once again apologizing if something doesn’t make sense because English is not my native language.

Chuuya’s mental state is kind of difficult to talk about. The easy answer is that he is in a really bad mental state but it’s a little more complicated than that. Chuuya’s has gone through so much trauma, basically since the moment he started living everything in his life has been a big traumatic experience after another. It has gotten so bad that there’s a running joke in the fandom about Chuuya’s lack of reaction to fucked up things, because that’s just another Thursday in his life. He is /used/ to this horrible things happening to him. We need to understand that there’s no such a thing as a little trauma. But chuuya’s case? Is outrageous. He was experimented in, treated like a weapon, deshumanized by everyone, constantly fighting with his own feelings of inhumanity, he was used and betrayed by the people he gave everything to protect, he made new friends that loved and appreciate him only for them to also be taken away from him, worse than that, they were killed /because/ they were his friends, he had to see them die, he had to hold his own pain and instead be comforting while he saw something fucking horrible, he was hurt, physically, mentally, he was poisoned, tortured and hit by a literal black hole, he saw more people he loved die, the same year later he once again lost his friends during the dragon’s head conflict and the worse part? Shitty things are /still/ happening to him

So no, no one could go through all of that and be mentally intact, it doesn’t matter how mentally strong they are. The pure amount of trauma that Chuuya went through in three days would break any other person and that’s just a minuscule part of his life. And that’s not even the worse part of it, I said it before but Chuuya’s core is all about humanity and he find his humanity in the people that he loves. That’s the kind of person he is and is devastating to realize that this mentality is the only thing that keeps him standing while at the same time being the thing that is destroying him. He was stripped of almost every decision in his life, he is at the worst place he can be in, forced to go against his whole fucking personality, his belief system and his moral code and he can’t leave because that would go against all his character. So chuuya endures, and endures and endures. He takes every hit, he has renounced to vulnerability, he has renounced to the right of being afraid, he has renounced to the right of stepping back. He has internalized that he is strong so he /needs/ to protect the people that is not. In order to protect his people (and his humanity) he needs to be reliable, he needs to be unwavering, he needs to stand still even when everyone else is already in the floor. He has lost such a basic human right as giving up. He doesn’t now how to do it, he /can’t/ do it because people depend on him. And it’s really a tragic paradox because this is what moves him but is takes so much of him. And all for what? He keeps losing people he loves, at the end there’s no difference. All this autocontradiction is killing him, he chose the mafia because the bonds with the people there, because his bonds with the sheep means something to him. Because his humanity is there, not in the organization but in the people that is part of it. He chose the mafia because that means choosing his humanity but the mafia is the kind of organization that works around deshumanizing people, so what’s the point of all of that. He is surrounded by people, he loves and is loved by people but he still is so unbearably lonely.

Now, what makes chuuya different from other characters? Chuuya’s resilience really is a scary thing. He is brave, he takes everything the world gives him and retaliates just as hard. Even when he has gone through hell and back, he still is full of vitality, he is still so hungry for life, he still enjoys all the little things he can get. Even when he knows that the worlds is a cruel place, even when he knows that there are bad people and that fucked up things happen, he never grew to hate the world because he clings to the good things, no matter how small they are. Because it doesn’t matter if he’s using corruption and bleeding from every hole, or feeling like his bones are being pulverized by gravity, it doesn’t matter that he loses the humanity he so desperately clings to, if by doing that he can protect the people that he loves. Is not that chuuya is mentally well, he is not emotionally intelligent (actually he’s horrible at it, it only seems like he is because most of the time he is being compared with Dazai who is far worse) but he is probably the most resilient character in bsd. Chuuya is strong, he is a fighter. He will fight for his place in this world, he will fight the unfairness of all, he will fight the senseless of life.

I also feel like it’s important to add that chuuya has a lot of interesting copying mechanisms and while most of them are certainly not healthy, it’s also what keeps him moving. Regarding all his trauma, I feel like it’s important to talk about how chuuya just never thinks of certain hurtful stuff. He just put all the pain in a mental box and hides it away. Chuuya doesn’t seem as affected by his trauma as other characters because he is hyper fixated in going ahead, he never looks back. He just keeps going forward BUT it doesn’t matter how much he advances, it doesn’t matter how fast he goes, all that trauma, pain and contradictions will catch up on him one day and it will be a terrible sight. Because my boy doesn’t know when to stop, he doesn’t know when he’s had enough, he thinks that limits are just kind suggestions that he can ignore.

So in summary Chuuya is an accident waiting to happen. He is more less stable at first glance, because he has copying mechanisms and a strong mentality and a otherworldly resilience but he also sucks at dealing with his own trauma, he is self destructive, and a living contradiction and that’s gonna wear him down someday. True to his character, his contradictions are fighting between them to keep some kind of weird balance but that won’t last. So, Chuuya is definitely mentally unwell.

Whoa that was longer than what I expected, sorry for that.

#bsd #bsd chuuya #bungou stray dogs #bsd meta #Chuuya meta #most of this is incoherent rambling #I’m sorry #I haven’t slept in three days

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mysticalsoot · 6 months

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connor's godverse [source material]

godverse/godbur taglist; @lillylvjy @witheredroseanon @enanon (msg/ask if you wanna be added!)

due to the recent popularity, my autism latching to this au and the few requests to let others dabble in it themselves; I've decided to make this central post of the godbur-verse and all it has to offer. you may use godbur or goddess!wilma and write them how you wish but do credit me mainly because I want to see what others create with my ideas!! that is all, now enjoy my tism vomit.

main masterlist // godverse masterlist

meet wilbur and wilma, our characters in this story of power and love and god-like shenanigans. the two of them are godly twins who rule their respective sectors in their shared world. they're an unlikely match, almost polar opposites; but not quite.

WILBUR; the cat

strong-willed and fairminded; colder on the exterior but with a heart two sizes too big.

visually 27 yrs old // queer leaning // autistic coded // less present with believers // 6'7" tall

wilbur rules the left sector of the golden realm. he focuses on doing right with his devotees, guiding them on the path of what's right and moral, keeping them from going astray. he keeps his relationships professional and has yet to drift from that rule.

wilbur has many rules he holds himself to, but most of them are one's he's given himself; in fear he would fall from his holiness if he did not. there is nothing to fall to. what he knows is what is there.

he keeps piles of journals filled with every thought and idea he's ever had, most are to himself. most aren't very kind. he keeps his rules listed in one specific journal. one he's decorated with painted doodles on the front and flowers pressed in the pages.

wilbur keeps great distance between himself and his believers. his golden rule being;

'distance is good for the start, when it will end in distance too'

he fears attachment will wreck his thoughts and deem him unrulable if he was to ever lose a mortal he grew attached to. regardless if it's a common tradition for a mortal to be assumed by their god.

that is cut short when one particular mortal catches his eye and captures his heart with their love and kindness and appreciation for what he's given them.

his first rule he broke, was close communication. there was something about this one mortal that his mind cling to, and they seemed very keen on him too. they weren’t in any belief of any god in particular until he claimed them (get your mind out of the gutter).

little did he know, they would take to it as well as they did. they enjoyed his company and his words and guidance. reaching for his metaphorical hand to lead them to the best outcome. they trusted him, he was trusted. he’d be lying if he said he didn’t break the next rule soon after.

falling in love. he was enraptured by them, and their continuous devotion to him, doing all they could to see him. to be with him. to be by him for as long as they can. to stay living in his world.

despite his growing love for this sweet one, wilbur had to cast them out, back to their life. they were meant to be mortal and he couldn’t let his emotions get in the way of what’s meant to be.

when he finally awarded his mortal with a life in his realm; he felt his shoulders lighten and a big weight of worry lift from him. they were safe with him, even if it meant he broke his golden rule amongst many other rules. he finally understood when people said they would do anything for their love, because he’d do just that for them.

wilbur like any other god, adorns both fangs and white feathered wings. he can retract them at any moment he wishes, and often chooses to hide them; especially around his mortal. he doesn't want to scare or overwhelm them so he keeps those features to himself.

the left sector is the home of the eldest twin. the one with moral responsibility who doesn’t stray from the rules unless prompted, and even then he fights back. the world is covered in sunlight and flowers. a beautiful garden at the back door of wilbur’s home. a place to write and be quiet and play music and just be. where butterflies and bees and animals roam and scurry on the grass and through the fields, where one can admire what is around them without worry of what could be happening. a safe haven.

WILMA; the dove

laid back and relaxed counterpart to wilbur; the divine feminine

visually 27 years old // mtf, feminine preference // autistic/adhd coded // hyper diligent with believers // 6'3"

wilma rules the right sector, the world of beauty and art and femininity. she focuses on bringing love and art to her believers, showing them what beauty is in the world; especially if they hadn’t viewed it in such a way before.

wilma has closer relationships with her believers, not upholding herself to the same strict standards as her brother holds himself. she believes that each person deserves to have a heart and hand reach out to them, pulling them into a hug and away from danger.

through wilma's art you’ll find the many attachments she’s had to her believers but never once giving in. they must have the best mortal life possible, and she can’t meddle with that. it would be unfair to them, cruel even.

her golden rule is this;

‘you must leave them be, even if the heart screams otherwise, let them free like doves must be’

so she paints and she sculpts and her emotions end up seeping into her every piece, and each piece has its place in her home. unlike her brother, her work in creativity is more inline with what she thinks and feels rather than lists of rules and thoughts and worries. she’s a brighter being, sunnier and lighter. she finds peace in everything.

sketchbooks and canvases and have finished sculptures line the halls of her home, making it here through her efforts in the arts.

although her efforts to not let her attachments get the best of her are fruitful for a while, there is (as always) one mortal who causes her to break her only rule. one with a beautiful heart and mind that always finds the sweetness in nature and those around them. someone spiritually equal to her that she can care for and love on and be inspired by.

she grew closer and closer to this mortal, their shared attachment to one another grew into a deep and loving bond, that left the other with a feeling of emptiness when they couldn't have the other.

wilma fought her desire to bring this mortal to her, wanting them to have the best life in their own world they possibly could. she couldn't even dare disrupt it. they could do so much! so much, without wilma.

she fought herself and her mind and her heart, for months it was aching for her mortal. she needed them, but she couldn't give in. her mortal reached out to her many times, without response as she struggled to justify bringing them to her.

finally, after watching her brother give in to his own wants, she does the same. it isn't all that bad, and what's the worst that could happen? her mortal doesn't like it in her world? she could send them back! they'll be happy either way.

so she brought them to her, and they were finally together. her muse was with her, in front of her eyes and in the flesh.

wilma and her mortal spent their days in the flower fields and ponds, embracing and giggling and admiring one another. adoring each other and their flaws and beauties.

as with wilbur, and any other god; wilma has the same fangs and wings. she doesn't choose to hide them as her brother does, keeping them on display, besides when she met her mortal; best not to scare them off.

she takes great pride in her appearance and her special features, showing them off 90% of the time. they don't bother her mortal, so she keeps them on display and she tries her best to show them off.

the right sector is home to the feminine, the beauty and the art of nature. creativity, divinity seep into the ground of this sector. ponds and rivers and fields of flowers adorn this world and make it what it is. it's a safety net for creatives who don't feel there's a place to belong in their own world. a safe haven.

its euphoric in its sights and aesthetics, tunnels covered in vines and flowers, water flowing beneath it. golden light covers the sights in a blanket of love and peace that wilma admires greatly.

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los-ninos-tortugas · 8 months

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(Throws this at you because I love your blog)

Rewatched Touch and Go today and it's such a GOOD 03 Raph episode!! It tells us so much about him!!

The mob chasing him? Not that big. He has fought and defeated bigger groups of actually trained and armed assailants. (Heck, he did it BLIND in Lone Raph and Cub.) This group didn't even have guns. If he had chosen to fight, he would have won - but he didn't even CONSIDER fighting them until his back was against the wall and he couldn't see another way out. This is punch first ask questions later RAPH choosing to flee because he didn't want to hurt ordinary scared people.

His interactions with Mrs Morrinson are just BEAUTIFUL. First of all his face when she pulls him through her door and essentially kidnaps him is hilarious and adorable. Secondly, he didn't have to let her do that!! He is so much stronger than her - he could have pulled away, but he didn't!! And then he spends a couple of hours at this random old lady's house THAT HE HAS NEVER MET BEFORE moving boxes and keeping her company and drinking tea. And he clearly has a good time!!! I don't even think it occured to him to try and leave - SHE has to tell him that it's getting late and he should go home. And when Mikey and Master Splinter suddenly have briefcase full of money? Raph's first impulse is to give it away to someone he has only known for a couple of hours. (Sidenote - this episode is the third time the Turtles are in possession of a stupidly large amount of money. The first time they hand it in to the police, the second time they insist April uses it to rebuild her shop, and the third time they give it away to somone only one of them has met. What does that say about them, when literally everything they own is other people's refuse? They are poorer than poor, and yet they give away life changing amounts of money with no regrets. I love them so much)

This episode really showcases how GENTLE Raph is. He is so good with vulnerable people. He doesn't treat Mrs Morrison as a convenient escape - he treats her like a person. And yes, there is a lot to be said about the fact that she is blind, and that that means she is treating him like a person - but he could have left as soon as he knew it was safe. He didn't have to move boxes and be kind to her. He didn't have to speak to her respectfully or drink tea with her or even let her pull him into her house.

Just... the 03 boys are such GOOD boys. They are extremely kind, and I love that about them. This episode showcases that for Raph so well.

(There is more I wanna say about this but my brain is melting due to the heat so I'm going to leave it there)

Thank you I do try my best <3

ALSO THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME A REASON TO TALK ABOUT MY BOY (I do love all the 03 boys but 03 Raph is my fave)

So I decided to rewatch the episode too so I could refresh my memory. And omg you’re sooo right. While 03 Raph is definitely one of the more straightforward Angry™️ iterations of Raph, he’s also one with a really strong moral compass. The crowd isn’t that big, they’re not armed, they’re still on edge from seeing their city torn apart. Could he have very easily incapacitated them single handed? Yeah probably, but it’s just not in his moral code. This Raph is very much a protector of the innocent, even when they don’t appreciate it. The fact that he only draws his weapons when he thinks he has absolutely no choice says a lot about how violence was his absolute last resort. And even then, as soon as Mrs. Morrison emerges from her apartment he puts his weapons away again.

His face when she pulls him in is so shocked but like, Raph you’re letting it happen! He really didn’t have to let her pull him into her house and he seems so surprised by it but he also doesn’t resist even a little bit. Also the way his voice goes from his usual kind of gravelly roughness to a slightly more gentle tone, like he’s almost speaking in a slightly higher register than he usually does and it’s kind of sweet? Little old lady is here better use my Polite Voice. And yeah, there is something kind of interesting about her being blind because yes, it means she’s not immediately hostile to him, however she gets pretty touchy when she’s pulling him into the apartment. She takes his notable three fingered hand and then she puts her hand on his shell when she pushes him in. Not going to lie when the mob asks her about “aliens” and she says there’s no aliens she sounds just like… mildly insincere (but maybe that’s just the New Yorker in me talking. We all say shit we don’t mean when we want someone to stop bothering us).

There’s something really funny about the fact that we don’t see the conversation that presumably happened right after they’re both inside, we just cut straight to Raph moving boxes 🤣 he really went, “well while I’m here…” and just started doing whatever she asked of him. And he just met this woman but he was already curious about why she was packing up to move! (Which is kind of a trend with this version of Raph and it’s part of what really makes him endearing to me. In spite of his tough guy exterior he gets invested in people soooo quickly. Even though Casey annoyed the (s)hell out of him when they first met, Raph also became incredibly invested in making sure his fellow hot head didn’t fist fight his way into an early grave. And you mentioned Lone Raph and Cub, where, despite the kid (I forgot his name at the moment) initially resisting Raph’s help and telling Raph to leave him alone Raph only becomes more determined to help him out.) I think even if Mikey and Splinter hadn’t conveniently come home with a suitcase full of money Raph still would have found a way to help/stay in touch with Mrs. Morrison because that’s just the kind of guy he is. (But also kind of makes you just how convincing his argument was to get Mikey to give him the money, these boys are very generous as you rightly pointed out and knowing it was going to a good cause I think Mikey would have agreed pretty easily but also Raph did just meet her that night so he must’ve had to have been reeeeaaal convincing)

My brain is also soup from the heat ✌️

#answered asks #anon ask #2003 teenage mutant ninja turtles #tmnt 03 #03 raph #touch and go #character analysis #katnip talks

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khepiari · 2 years

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Love mattered in Mo Dao Zu Shi!

Another aspect of Mo Dao Zu Shi I appreciate is that it show’s Individuals alone cannot change the world where people are profiting out of exploitation under the banner of righteousness. Wei Wuxian’s moral code was always intact and strong. But the world only saw him as an expendable tool.

They praised him for demonic cultivation when he fought the Wens. And they immediately condemned him when he protected the Wen refugees under his name. All Wei Wuxian ever wanted was to let others be and live. He participated in the war because he wanted to protect the people he loved and cared for. And then his actions in the war was used as justification to shun him.

Individuals have always been coopted or targeted by larger groups to serve their purpose. Wei Wuxian failed in first life to save the Wens, lost his siblings, his best friends and most importantly died alone trying to undo the powers of his amulet. At one point he asks what was the point of him fighting when he couldn’t save anyone.

And I think the answer to Wei Wuxian’s question is A’Yuan.

Everything he did, every action he was made to do was answered by A’Yuan. Love was there and it didn’t change anything but it mattered. A’Yuan was loved by Grandma Wen, Fourth Uncle, Wen Ning, Wen Qin and Wei Wuxian. And each of them tried to protect him.

The Wens left him in the burial grounds hoping for a miracle. Wei Wuxian held his own in the burial grounds until he destroyed his amulet and himself. And Lan Wangji despite his injuries went looking for traces of Wei Wuxian but found A’Yuan. Their actions saved him!

Love mattered, Lan Wangji’s love for Wei Wuxian made him save A’Yuan and raise him as his own and named him Shizui: To recollect and long for. World had shunned the Yiling Patriarch but Not Lan Wangji. He remembered and loved and lived, and in his memory Wei Wuxian was preserved. And because Lan Wangji insisted, the Lan Sect adopted A’Yuan as their own. Change came slow but it came because one individual’s love for another, hence I insist love mattered.

Wei Wuxian was not able to save himself or others but he was able to save one. And that mattered; when he returns in Mo Xanyu’s body and meets Lan Shizui for first time he is impressed and praises the one who raised this young man with such compassion. He is surprised to find uptight Lan Sect to be friendly.

This was the change he initiated, Lan Wangji didn’t blindly follow the rules anymore. He no longer trusted the people above him, he questioned the rules of morality. He took the best of both worlds— his and Wei Wuxian’s and raised A’Yuan. And not only that, he taught the younger generation to be kinder and open minded to the one who has been shunned or isolated by society. We see in Lan Jingyi who is honestly outspoken and doesn’t let polite code of conduct dictate his behaviour. If he sees wrong happening he will point it out.

I like to believe Lan Zhan would’ve succumbed to his injuries! He was holding on to the hope Wei Ying survived. When he went to look for Wei Ying in Burial Mounds, I think he had prepared for no return either, this was a heartbroken man! Had it not been A’Yuan hidden in the tree bark, he would’ve collapsed. The child was the only person in this entire world who (remembered) Wei Ying as Wei Ying, not Yiling Laozu not head disciple of Jiang Sect or a War Hero or the unstable man. And indirectly Wei Ying died protecting A’Yuan! Lan Wangji wouldn’t dare to die after everything the love of his life did!

Love was there, it couldn’t do much but it saved one person. And I think this knowledge is where Wei Wuxian finds his solace.

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ryuichirou · 1 year

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Hello! Your art is really amazing and I also have a question to ask you if you wouldn't mind

I don't mean this in a rude way and the reason I'm asking is because I'm curious, why do you ship Ortho/Idia and Lilia/Silver?

+ Anonymous asked:

Hello ! I was wondering what make you ship ortho and idia ? No jugements here I also shipped family members in the past for various reasons, but I can’t seem to see the appeal of this particular ship. Anyway, have a nice day ! (btw sorry for my grammar i’m not english)

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Hi, Anons! Seems like I’m starting all of my replies with apologizing for being late, this one isn’t an exception lol This is another ask that I wanted to think about for a while to make sure that I reply to it properly.

Thank you so much for liking my art and thank you for approaching this question in a polite way. I know this is a controversial topic, this is why we try to be honest about it, but at the same time not to post about it too often; but if you’re curious, I don’t mind talking about it. Ehh but this post is super long, I don’t know if you wanted it to be this long haha well.

Obligatory disclaimer,in case there are any people out there who still don’t realise where we stand on this issue: fiction is fiction, any topic or trope could be explored and played around with in fiction, and there is no direct correlation between the tropes a person loves and their moral code or life choices. One does not “support *something*” by shipping a certain ship. It’s not that deep.

With that out of the way, let’s proceed! Starting with Ortho/Idia. The reply’s mostly about them, tbh.

And right away, another disclaimer: like I mentioned in another post on this topic, us shipping Ortho and Idia romantically doesn’t mean that we don’t appreciate the platonic reading of their relationship. The idea that platonic love could be super strong and tragic and make a person do drastic things for their sibling’s happiness is great and rarely explored in fiction. Believe it or not, we just really love the way they’re written, and even though we ship them romantically, we’re not blind to this version of their dynamic and we love that twst has a storyline like this. This storyline made me lose my mind as a shipper, but even if we look at it platonically, the fact that Idia called out the hypocrisy of swooning over Orpheus and Eurydice and yet people thinking that him (Idia) desperately wanting to bring back his brother is wrong is just beautiful.

Alright, that’s all the disclaimers, let’s dive into the shipping territory and talk about our feelings.

I don’t know, man, they just… love each other so much. The sheer volume of their love is so impressive and beautiful, and when it comes to shipping tropes that we like, they pretty much tick all the boxes. I’ll try to explain it in more detail and with examples.

Since it’s a little bit hard to talk about them because there are so many versions of Ortho, I’ll try to say things that are common to all of them. And when I’m talking about a specific version of Ortho, I’ll mention that.

First of all, we really love ships that force characters to open up, develop, evolve and enhance the traits that we love about them. This is why in all of my character rants I tend to talk about their relationships with others, and in all of my headcanon posts I tend to talk about canonical events a lot: these things are strongly tied together for us. So naturally, I’ll start by talking about Ortho and the way his character works (and develops) through his relationships with Idia.

To be honest, we didn’t really care for Ortho at first. He wasn’t all that interesting to us based on his design and character quirks (alright, a cute robot boy, we get it), but once we got to know him better, he literally became one of our favourites. Because he is so much more than just a cute robot boy who only acts like a mascot or does whatever Idia wants him to do.

Even though he is perceived (mostly by the fandom, but also by some of the characters) as a child, he is definitely not an innocent and gullible baby. If we compare AI-Ortho to original Ortho from the flashback, it becomes very clear just how different they are. Ortho from the flashback is a very young child: he sounds, acts and talks like one. AI-Ortho, even though he’s based on the original Ortho, is nothing like that, because he grows, develops and learns with time. Ortho has shown again and again that he is smart, he could be quite cunning, his morals are questionable (since, you know, he is an AI and not a person), and he is quite reflective and perceptive. He is much more mature than he is given credit for, and a big part of it is that his main role is to take care of Idia. And not just in a “drink water, niisan” kind of way: he also acts as Idia’s emotional crutch at times. Ortho is very attentive to Idia’s emotional state, because this is what he’s been doing his entire robo-life: making sure that Idia is feeling alright, comforting him, reassuring him constantly, finding this fragile balance between not pushing Idia too hard and trying to inspire him to socialize with others as much as he can. This takes a lot of empathy and emotional wisdom; it’s clear that between him and Idia, Ortho takes the role of a mature caretaking person, even though he could still be a little bit naïve at times. And as he learns and adapts, he becomes more strict and more pushy with Idia, he learns how to persuade him, manipulate him, how to trick him. He becomes less anxious and scared to accidentally hurt Idia, because he knows what’s best for him.

Ortho as a character develops through his relationships with Idia, and we really love how big of a role Idia plays in his life. Of course, it’s obvious, because Ortho’s main purpose is to assist Idia, but the thing is, he’s always had his own agency about it. From one of his birthday vignettes we learn that Idia didn’t really want to talk to him at first when he created him, so Ortho had to analyze movies and learn how to have a proper emotional human-like dialogue, trying to find a way to approach Idia. And this “trying to find a way to approach him, trying to find a way to communicate with him, trying to make him happy” is Ortho’s entire life quest, but it’s such a dynamic quest that makes him learn a lot about himself as well. Even though Ortho only got his “heart” at the end of chapter 6, I think he developed feelings much earlier than that.

Which leads us to a very specific trope that we love in ships and media: an AI that falls in love/becomes obsessed with a person it serves. And not necessarily in a healthy or human way, since its grasp of empathy and ethics is much different from a human being’s, which makes its love weird and uncanny and yet strong and absolutely genuine. As I mentioned in one of the previous replies, the idea of AI-Ortho developing feelings for Idia, despite not being programmed to feel this way, is heartbreakingly beautiful. And this is exactly what happened to them: Idia is a genius, but he still wouldn’t be able to make AI-Ortho love him as much as he ended up loving him. So all of it is on Ortho…

Another group of tropes that we love a lot are overprotectiveness, unhealthy obsessions and yandere scenarios. And boy these two deliver when it comes to that. They are super protective over each other.

We really enjoyed Ortho’s Ignihyde Gear vignette, in which he overhears some Diasomnia students talking shit about him and Idia and tries to fry them with lasers, because being rude to Idia is an unforgivable sin to Ortho, to the point that he doesn’t even care when Trein calls him out for endangering others. He gets super upset when Trein bans him from going to classes with Idia though, and when he tells Idia about it, Idia gets furious… because how could these assholes bully Ortho, and how could Trein punish Ortho when he was only standing up for himself! The first instinct for both of them in this situation is to get back at assholes for hurting someone they care about. They worry about each other to the degree that they immediately become very antagonistic and cruel towards anyone who wrongs their loved one. And this is such a great trope for us, we love it a lot. In general, if you can describe a ship with a phrase “have you ever loved someone so much you’d want to destroy the world for them”, we’re most likely on board with it, having a mental breakdown because of how absolutely beautiful it is. And this is even a minor example, compared to everything that’s happened in chapter 6… When you look at it from the shipper point of view, the entirety of chapter 6 is so painfully romantic. (Also, even if instead of AI-Ortho we had a real Ortho, I’m pretty sure he would’ve been just as overprotective. The Shrouds are not okay.)

Another good theme of this ship is that ever since they were kids, they were all alone; all they have is each other, and that hasn’t changed even now, as the events of the game unfold. I love this bittersweet feeling of them being the only people who are capable of understanding each other in this big world, it’s such a unique (for a lot of reasons) and extremely strong bond. And it doesn’t matter which version of Ortho you take: be it the canonverse, be it an AU in which the original Ortho never died, they would still be extremely close and feel like the two of them are somewhat separated from the rest of the world. Their experience together is different, no one knows that they went through, and ships with such a great connection are always fun for us to play around with. Especially when their bond comes with a heavy baggage. A lot of things that I’ve described could be very unhealthy, and again, even if Ortho was alive, their relationship with Idia wouldn’t be all that healthy. Idia is very dependent on Ortho, he clings to him and could be pretty much helpless without him. No matter the AU(or canon), Idia always seems like someone who is filled with guilt over it, but just can’t help it. And at the same time, he might feel that Ortho has so much more to live for than to waste his life on his useless brother, and that he has to let him go. Idia is always ready to sacrifice pretty much everything about himself for Ortho, always has been, as we saw it in the flashback. The trauma, the codependence, the jealousy – all these feelings could eat Idia (or Ortho for that matter) alive, and we’ll always enjoy this type of content with them.

Also, here is a fun little bonus. Another interesting thing that I noticed and also some people pointed out as well (well, I’ve seen only one, but I’m not sure we’re the only people who noticed that) is that Ortho and Idia’s story kind of has some correlations with Hercules and Megara’s story. I am very biased because I adore Meg, but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Well, Ortho does have a lot of motifs of Hercules and it’s a fact: he “goes from zero to hero”, he is being called “Monsieur Wonder” (Wonderboy), he wanted to be a hero ever since he was a child. And at the end of his arc he had an opportunity to start living a new life, true to who he is (stop pretending to be Ortho Shroud and find his own identity = joining the gods on Olympus), but ends up staying with the one he loves instead (just like Hercules stayed with Meg, because “I finally know where I belong”).

Idia is clearly based on Hades and he doesn’t let us forget it for a moment with his constant quoting, but he still has some interesting traits that resemble Meg as well. He is kinda stuck doing a job he hates (although this is true to Hades as well). And even though his backstory is very different from hers, ultimately, he is a cynical heartbroken person who is disappointed in life and doesn’t want to get hurt again, and who also has a huge soft spot for a certain wonderboy who is very genuine and kind to him, which also makes him feel deep and constant guilt. I really love this unintentional (?) crossover lol

And the last thing, If we’re being open and honest, there are also some aspects of Ortho and Idia’s relationship that hit close to home to us personally. Not the incest thing of course, but the way their dynamic works. Without diving deeper into details of our personal life, let me just say that when Ortho said that he just doesn’t want Idia to be misunderstood and mistreated by others, I felt it.

It’s funny that you, the first Anon, asked about both Ortho/Idia and Lilia/Silver, of course I know what makes these two ships similar lol, but the thing is, our attitude towards Lilia/Silver is a bit different simply because we don’t know them as well as we do Ortho and Idia. With Lilia and Silver, our feelings could basically be described as “well that would be fun/hot, wouldn’t it?”. It’s more on a sexy side of things, even though there are some deeper aspects of their relationships that we love and find interesting. The fact that we love both Lilia and Silver individually also makes them quite a nice ship. They just have a lot of potential for both cute scenarios and really really problematic, unhealthy and fucked up ones. The only reason I’m not writing a 4 page long essay on these two is because I don’t have as much to say about them… yet. Sorry, there’re so many characters in TW, and it takes a while both to get to everyone and to enjoy the ones we’re pretty confident about, so idk how long it’ll take for us to truly dive into Lilia/Silver as much as we have with Ortho/Idia.

TLDR; We love unhealthy dynamics, codependence, possessiveness and readiness to act drastically for a loved one. Ortho and Idia love each other dearly, and there is a lot of baggage and layers to their relationships, no matter which version of Ortho and Idia you take. Lilia and Silver also have a lot of potential for fun unhealthy scenarios, but they are also very hot together, and we are very self-indulgent, sooo don’t mind if we do.

And finally, let’s save all the right and healthy dynamics for real life. In fiction, it’s fun to look at things that are interesting, unusual and taboo. It’s always been this way with us; we’re just naturally drawn towards ships that have problematic elements in them, since they tend to have more potential for messed-up scenarios (and we prefer those). Even in ships with zero age gap and no family relation between the characters whatsoever, we enjoy playing with the idea of unhealthy obsessions, dependence and all this jazz. We just really love dark media, and not only for shipping purposes.

It’s also ironic, considering the topic of this particular post, but we aren’t that into incest as a trope/kink, haven’t been at least. We’re just very open-minded when a ship grabs our attention, and this is exactly what’s been happening lately with all these couples lol

I guess that’s it? Let me know if you have any more questions, and I really hope that I managed to explain what we see in these ships properly. If this monster of a reply isn’t enough for you for some reason and you crave more of our thoughts, please read this one too…

Thank you for reading! And have a good day.

#replies #shroudcest #liisil #about characters

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scripted-downfall · 1 year

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Sam Winchester: True Neutral

I've realized, while answering an ask, that a lot of Sam's problems stem from the fact that he is, at root, true neutral. In other words, he’s mostly pretty ambivalent about whether he breaks the rules or not, and he’s not really “good” or “bad” either.

The problems stem from the fact that he wants to be either lawful good or neutral good (depending on where we are in the series). His morals push him to try for “good” territory — 90% of his lines are “we should” or “we shouldn’t”, for example (slight exaggeration, but only slight) — but he is, at root, very apathetic. It’s why he swings so wildly between personalities (such as the wide oscillation between his save-Dean mission in s3 and his screw-Dean-(figuratively)-because-I-wanna-screw-Ruby-(literally)-and-drink-demon-blood mentality in s4); he doesn’t really have that innate code he wants/pretends to have.

Instead, he wants to have that code because he’s so bothered by the possibility that he’s evil that he overcorrects without the right motivation. He’s doing good because he wants to be good, but figuring out what actually is good in order to do it is hard for him. He sees “Oh, Lilith = bad, so killing Lilith = good, so I’m being good right now” and doesn’t realize that what he’s doing to fulfill that goal (drinking demon blood, hurting innocents, manipulating/beating up his brother) is not good. And it’s part of why the scene where Dean calls him a monster is so devastating for him. He wanted to be good; he thought he was being good; he wasn’t being good. These three thoughts are in opposition to his chosen path.

This is also why he’s good on the stuff that’s pretty easy to put into big generalizations (and also tend to be ways of convincing himself that he's not bad) — x creature isn’t evil just because it’s an x; don’t hurt innocents; we can’t take out y until we’re certain there’s no other choice — and also why he can’t see that, on a day-to-day basis (e.g. interacting with his brother, etc.) he’s not that good a person. The former concepts are easy to repeat like a mantra; the latter are the more subtle elements of goodness.

And this also speaks to his actions when he loses his soul.

He finally embraces his true neutral (tending, in that particular season, towards chaotic neutral) personality. He doesn’t care about tact or emotion, is perfectly willing to embrace random violence, and views most of the population as a means to his end. He doesn’t have the moral shame normal!Sam has about this, largely because he doesn’t care about being “good” anymore. When he’s soulless, he just wants what he wants — what’s best for him — and does not give a shit about how he accomplishes it. Thus, there’s no shame. He has no agenda — other than self-interest — so he isn’t contravening that agenda the way normal!Sam contravenes his own agenda to “be good” if he does anything that’s not good, so there’s not really a need to feel bad. He’s got his values — wants to be a strong/effective hunter, though I will add that it’s less about “saving people” and more about “hunting things”, etc — but the moral side of things is gone.

So, in short; Sam is trying to be good without knowing how --- kinda like the story of the five blind men trying to figure out what the elephant is without being able to see the whole picture; Sam's hunting around in a metaphorical darkness for "good", and only correctly identifying it part of the time --- and that causes a lot of strife (with himself and with other people) across the series.

(This post is dedicated to season 11 anon for the inspiration :) This is part 1 of my response to your first ask… I really appreciate the interaction!)

#supernatural #anti sam #anti sam winchester #look y'all know me by now #is this fully anti? no #but i don't feel like dealing with the asshole stans who will attack me for this #so... if you're a sam/jared stan gtfo #:)

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silphine · 1 year

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ESCAFLOWNE Voice meme (3/5)

[ Escaflowne voice meme made by @drkstars-art ]

PART 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5

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3. Which side are you on ? What do you think happens Post-Hitomi when she leaves? Who do you think will be the next opposing power?

Why necessary choosing a side ? (Funny, I never asked myself this question...) Well... As the series focuses/develops way more "good" side than Zaibach’s side and its characters, it's easier for me to empathize and lean more towards main protagonists. But deep inside, I’m a neutral observer. Because each side has its own set of we can label "good" or "bad" moral aspects. - I really love Folken, Narya and Eriya. - I don't see Dornkirk as pure evil despite I don't appreciate him... I would had loved to dive more in Zaibach generals (specially Adelphos), Sorcerers and Dilandau's soldiers psychology. But I don't think staff had planned to explore or develop these points... (Too bad because I love nuances in stories !) I digress but that's why I love Mononoké Hime (Miyazaki) that much or enjoy a big part of Game of Thrones for example.

[ About Post-Hitomi ]

Well... I have more questions than ideas or answers on that matter... - Post-Zaibach is a big enigma in my mind :

Who can rule or give a strong and desirable direction after Dornkirk's reign ?

What could be Zaibach people's opinion on Great War events ?

What would they want to do next ?

As Hitomi says in Ep 18 : " I wonder if Zaibach people are really happy... "

Personally, if many Sorcerers survive, I like to imagine high tensions with Adelphos.

We don't know lot of things about the General, but I noticed that :

He doesn't seem to appreciate or trust Sorcerers

He sees Dilandau as a demon.

He doesn't seem to blindly trust Dornkirk neither.

When he saw Celena in the garden scene, he felt clearly unconfortable. He even said : " I wonder what Zaibach has become (or what's going on in Zaibach)... "

He almost died in Basram's "energist" attack. But didn't go further in the war, unlike Alliance countries - betraying each other right away.

I tend to think he has a moral code and could play a good partition in "Peace" on Gaea. - Globally, it's quite difficult for me to imagine what Post-War Gaea could be because the end of the series doesn't take time to properly explain political, energy and technological context with other countries (like with Basram for example).

I would be definitely interested in translated informations on that subject !

My inner feeling is that true Peace is an utopia because each country has its own point of view, interests, history, concerns, culture and beliefs... so it necessarily leads to tensions with other countries.

But nations have to do their best to aim for this ideal in the interest of the greatest number, respecting everyone’s differences, thanks to a true and permanent diplomacy.

When you know humanity's complexity, it's a huge challenge...

[ On a more character level ]

I am not quite confident in Allen and Celena's future...

I can not imagine she definitely recovered from all she's gone through in Zaibach.

And I think Allen would be (quite understandably) an overprotective brother... (this attitude never brings anything good in a relationship, even a brotherly one.)

Not that I don't wish the best for them. But I simply don't buy it... (or at least, not without a huge and very long psychological work for Celena...)

My opinion on Millerna and Dryden is way more positive.

I really think they would form a great and supportive couple. But they both need a lot of time.

However, I won't be surprised if Millerna relied once again on Allen for a while before going back to Dryden and sincerely falling for him (she is still lost at the end of the series...)

I can imagine her being the new Queen of Asturia, just as Eries

About Van and Hitomi...

It's funny because I can just as easily imagine them never seeing each other again as they will definitely meet one way or another, whatever the form. (single or already married, with or without children from another partner, or even with different ages...) I would bet more on the idea they will meet again. It's how I feel and always felt since my first viewing. But it can also never happen. [ NOTE : If I am not mistaken : Kazuki Akane (director) said in an interview in "Roman Album" Artbook that Hitomi would surely meet Van again. But as they shared a "youth love", they need to grow up and mature before truly going back to one another. ( Please take this information with a grain of salt because I lost the translation many years ago... ) ] Some elements make me question a lot on their non or hypothetical reunion :

Their last dialogue (based on subtitles of Japanese dub)

Time Flow (which doesn't seem to be the same on Gaea and Earth...)

Van’s royal status.

( Their last dialogue ) H - I want to see this world with you, Van. But can I stay ? I love Gaea and Fanelia... V - If you want it, so do it. As long we would share the same feelings, we can see each other again. ( Hitomi cries and gives him her pendant, telling him ) " I will never forget you, even when I will be a grandma. I will never forget you. " (I never get why she gives him her pendant before leaving Gaea...) I'm maybe wrong but I always felt that Hitomi thinks she will never meet Van again, or if : only with a big age difference between them. What does she mean by "grandma" ? That she will go on with her life, probably marry another man, have children, become a grandmother ? Or just an old lady ? It keeps remind me about Hitomi's grandmother and Leon’s story... ( Time Flow )

Too many questions run through my head on this part...

I wonder if we can even define a temporal correspondence between Gaea and Earth. (the more I try, the more I think this story element doesn't follow a strict rule... ) If we stick to chronological events : > it seems Leon met Hitomi's grandma 2 times : 1) A first one (picture above) - Hitomi’s grandma is around 15. - About Leon : No precise idea... Except he is an adult. No direct mention of his wife and his children. 2) A second (Leon’s search for Mystic Valley and meeting with Isaac / Dornkirk) - We know at that point - for sure - Leon is married to Encia and already has Allen. [ In his discussions with Allen, Leon never mentions Celena. " I get married and became father by obligation. I tried to live denying who I was. But men always wish to escape from destiny others impose on them. When I saw this young woman the second time... I realized I loved Encia... and you too, Allen..." ] I guess Leon died 15 (gaean) years before the events of the story. - Leon meets Hitomi’s grandma just before his death and is surprised to see her " like in the past ". He concludes : " I see... Here is the secret of Atlantis... The Power of Wishes..." He gives the pendant to Hitomi’s grandma, telling her : " Wishes become reality. No matter the distance, they transcend time and space." It seems to imply that time has passed for him but Hitomi’s grandma (still 15) is the materialization of his desire to see her, as he knew her. (Not her real appearance on Earth, on that moment.) I tend to think Grandma was not 15 when she received the pendant. Another fact which makes me lean towards this hypothesis : > If Grandma really received the pendant at 15 and told her daughter about her experience when she was still a little girl, then : why did she give the pendant to Hitomi and not to her own daughter ? A part of me wonders if she received the pendant when she was already a grandmother and gave it right away to Hitomi. (But it's just my own hypothesis...) This part of the story leaves me with many questions :

How old was Leon when he met Hitomi’s grandma the first time ? Was he already married to Encia ?

How old was he on the second meeting ?

How old really was Hitomi’s grandma on the second meeting ?

Whatever the answer, it seems time passes quicker on Earth than on Gaea.

But this topic remains an enigma for me... (Van’s royal status)

Moreover, "Hitomi living by Van's side" means sharing her life with a royal figure (and huge responsabilities) of a land she doesn't really know by the way... She, who just wanted to live a simple life... What a pressure for her... Van felt the same at the beginning of the series : he never wanted to be King and always clearly aspired to a simple life. I think he would truly understand her need for time to adapt. But it's clearly a situation that requires lot of compromises... There are plenty of possibilities ! [ > PART 4 ]

#escaflowne #Escaflowne Voice Meme #Thoughts #timeflow

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tokiro07 · 1 year

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Cipher Academy ch. 3 thoughts

[Out of Juice]

Is it rude of me to exclusively make observations about how Cipher Academy reminds me of Nisio Isin’s other works? I hope not, because it’s how I show my love

So Iroha denies Kogoe’s invitation to partner up, not just because the task is too great or because Iroha lacks the ambition to hunt for the Morg, but because he doesn’t feel comfortable being that close to a girl so fast. Gives me Hitoyoshi vibes, rejecting Medaka when they were three. Obviously Iroha doesn’t feel like he’s up to it, but the idea that he’s just embarrassed to work closely with a girl is surprisingly endearing

We’re then introduced to CG, who I assume is an AI assistant created by Kogoe, aptly named because he’s literally a computer-generated image. I love this guy’s design with his mustache literally being shaped into a C and a G. Again, I wonder if this was Nisio Isin’s idea or Iwasaki’s, but whatever the case, props to Iwasaki for the execution

Kogoe resolves to get Iroha to “fall for [her]” by giving him a confidence boost through puzzle solving, which rather than reminding me of Medaka Box reminds me of Katanagatari wherein Togame blatantly and shallowly attempts to make Shichika fall in love with her so that he’ll do what she commands. The difference here is that Shichika, being an isolated man-child, immediately decides that he does in fact love Togame because she told him to, while Iroha is definitely going to take some more convincing if it even happens at all

Iroha is confronted by Toshusai’s minions, who bafflingly challenge him to his choice of a puzzle or dance battle. This seems pretty random, and knowing Nisio Isin the way I do, that’s definitely how it’s supposed to feel, especially since while Iroha chooses the dance battle, Yukako goes with the puzzle anyway, making his choice moot. I’m expecting that the twist of the puzzle will be that it’s related to dancing in some way, much like the previous puzzle was solved through Morse Code after it had been a plot point

In a flashback, we learn that Yukako suspects Iroha’s glasses came from Kogoe, and Toshusai informs us that if so, the glasses are worth over 100 million yen just from the materials. This confirms that Toshusai is well aware of what the glasses are capable of and is already onto Iroha using them to solve the puzzle from chapter 1. Despite how dangerous they can be, Toshusai refuses to steal them from Iroha, as they are for all intents and purposes his legal property and doing so would land her and her minions in jail. I really appreciate that Toshusai seems to have a strong moral code, though she goes onto say that stealing them from Kogoe specifically would make matters different. I suppose preventing the actions of a warmonger outweigh the moral implications of thievery

We cut to Iroha dancing, which if nothing else, demonstrates that he has a pretty impressive skillset outside of puzzle solving. He ends with an idol-like pose and pops his glasses back on, making an honestly adorable expression as he asks how he did. It was super endearing even if it feels like it was kind of a pointless scene at the moment. I expect it will come up later, as it gives the impression that there’s a lot more beneath the surface for Iroha than someone whose just kinda good at puzzles

Yukako gets embarrassed that Iroha’s dancing was presumably more feminine than she could ever hope to be, so she pivots to the puzzle battle rather than the dance battle and informs Iroha that at Cipher Academy, deals made over codes are absolute. This is a pretty common thing in manga where competition is a major theme, as the sanctity of the sport is obviously one of the story’s top priorities, and we need to establish that the stakes are actually important to the people involved as quickly as possible

Puzzle number 5 consists of 51 stars, each with a combination of letters and numbers, though some only have letters. Two stars are filled in, labeled G and N3, while one is separate from the rest, labeled W3. I saw someone mention in the comments on MangaPlus that since there are 51 stars, it might represent the 50 states of America plus Washington, DC. With this hint, I checked the stars against an alphabetical list of the states, and sure enough, the numbers correspond to the number of states that start with each letter (ex: there’s A1, A2, A3 and A4, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, and Arkansas, but no A5), and includes Washington, DC for five Ws rather than what would normally be four. Weirdly the L for Louisiana is lowercase, but I’m not sure if that’s relevant. Also, Washington, DC should strictly be a D, as its postal abbreviation is DC for District of Columbia, but that may be a hint that we’re not meant to be using the postal abbreviations at all

Anyway, this would make G Georgia and N3 New Hampshire, assuming it’s supposed to be completely alphabetical. I get the feeling it isn’t, though, since the lone W at the bottom, which would make sense to be Washington, DC because of its isolation, is W3, when alphabetically it would be W2 immediately following Washington state.

This also tells us that it isn’t chronological, as DC was founded first and would therefore be W1. It’s not by population or geographical size, as it would be W4 or W5 respectively. It isn’t by what order you would find them when looking on a map, as no matter which direction you start from, DC would never be the third one you find. I have to figure that the solution can’t be related to anything not readily apparent in the picture itself, so it must have something to do with the order that they’re laid out on the page itself. They don’t line up to a map of the US, though, evidenced by the fact that DC is nowhere near any of the M’s that could indicate Maryland

You may think it doesn’t really matter what makes DC W3, but as near as I can tell, it’s the single most important factor in the puzzle. G is obviously Georgia, it can only be Georgia, but there are eight N’s, so if alphabetization doesn’t explain why DC is W3, then it can’t possibly be meant to suggest that N3 is New Hampshire as we suggested. In fact, I think it’s safe to say that New Hampshire is the only answer it almost definitely CAN’T be, as that would allow the answer to be solvable with alphabetization when it’s not supposed to be

The main issue is that I don’t know what exactly we’re trying to solve here. Are we trying to find a name like in chapter 1? A location like in chapter 2? Are Georgia and unnamed state that starts with N the ultimate goal, or are they just hints in and of themselves? Once we’ve solved for N, do we need to determine a relationship between it and Georgia? Or am I completely off-base and we should be drawing lines between the stars to create a picture using G and N3 as hints for where to start? It was written while Yukako was watching Iroha dance, so my best guess is that, like I said earlier, it has something to do with dancing, but lord knows I can’t figure out what. I’ve been plugging away at this for over an hour now and I just can’t figure it out, and Iroha was only given 30 minutes total!

In exchange for the possibility of exile, Iroha demands that if he wins, Toshusai’s minions will stop chasing Kogoe, which he says with enough conviction that Kogoe swoons and CG chastises her for falling for Iroha. It’s a super cute and endearing moment for me, I like when characters insist on making someone fall for them for likely selfish reasons only to be the ones to fall in love first

Kogoe refers to the AR glasses as CG’s grandchild, implying that the glasses have an AI in them (which was also implied by them talking in chapter 1, though I just assumed that was Kogoe at the time), so I’m hoping that they’ll have a name and face like CG does (even if Iroha is the one who names them). I also only just noticed that the glasses have cameras on the end-pieces, explaining how they perceive visuals; I kind of just assumed that the lenses were able to capture light as it passed through to the eye, but I guess that wouldn’t really make sense scientifically since they’re clear, huh? I think Kogoe’s glasses might be the same way, which would also mean that she’s the only one who can see/hear CG since he’s literally an AR projection on the lenses

Finally, to make matters worse (and a lot funnier), the AR glasses run out of charge, making this the do-or-die challenge that Iroha needs to prove to himself and the audience that the glasses are not a crutch or a cheat device, but as Kogoe said, a tool merely to help Iroha visualize puzzles in a way that’s more conducive to his method of problem solving. I’m glad that this kind of trial by fire is coming up in only chapter 3, because it gave us just enough time to familiarize ourselves with how the glasses work without allowing anyone enough time to think that they were honestly doing all of the work

I think I forgot to mention it in my thoughts on chapter 1, but I really love how when solving a puzzle using the glasses, Iroha is shown moving his fingers around the empty air, which is actually what I do when trying to solve problems in my head! It was very relatable, and I hope it’s something that he’ll continue to do even when not being aided by the glasses

...Wait...long, orange hair...glasses...

...Ah hell, am I gonna end up cosplaying Iroha...

#cipher academy #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

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m1ckeyb3rry · 2 years

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🌫 https://m1ckeyb3rry.tumblr.com/post/687886106890502144

no bc i agree like gabi is overhated and it’s obv that she did bad things and was responsible for a lot of bad things that happened. it’s interesting to read about characters like gabi and y/n even if we don’t agree with their actions!!

y/n is probably a bit like connie and sasha in the sense that she’s extroverted😭 just less annoying and reckless maybe💀

and so true i liked that y/n wasn’t like particularly outstanding or like main characterish. it made her development really interesting to read too, like watching her step into her own character and play both big roles and small roles in peoples’ lives. and when colt and y/n got married it was so cute, i was lowkey rooting for them then he died LMAOOO. i wasn’t expecting birdsong to have a happy ending in the tense arc lol but then everything flipped and we did get a happy ending so that was nice to read lol. as much as i’m a sucker for angst and sad endings and what could’ve been, birdsong’s ending was nice i liked it!! i’m guessing it’s alice because of the thing y/n said about her turning into a mindless titan but idk bc nothing comes to mind for friedrich, colt or y/n being foreshadowed😫

and the first chapter of hhg literally did not disappoint. you’ve set it up so nicely and i can’t wait to see how differently things will turn out with such a different y/n. it would be really interesting if she maybe ended up being one of the bolder characters in the cadets like eren, and if her different perspective of the world plays a part in what exactly she does in the events leading up to the end of s3. can’t wait to see more it’s too early to tell how things will go rn!!

I will always defend Gabi LMAO I love her 😩✋🏼 she’s just a very interesting character to me and very realistic, and I really appreciated her development.

Yeah Y/N is definitely not reckless or dumb the way Connie and Sasha are but she’s similarly outgoing. She’s for sure more selfish than them — at the end of the day her number one priority is really herself.

It was friedrich!! But it was a very offhand comment so I wouldn’t call it foreshadowing as much as I would something that’ll make someone rereading then story once it’s finished go “ohhh”

AHH YAY I’M GLAD YOU LIKED HHG!! Y/N is going to be very interesting in the cadet corps and definitely not as chill/likable as Swear Y/N. She’s very unsure about the world above ground and is obviously a very rough person — her moral code is also strong but doesn’t align with most characters we see in the show (ex Mikasa, s1-s3 Eren, Levi, etc). She’s really fun though I do enjoy her!!

Side note but writing her relationship with Levi was so difficult LMFAO she idolizes him a lot and he’s the only person she loves at the moment which I wanted to make clear?? But I didn’t want it to seem like she’s obsessed with him to the point that she has some weird brother complex or something 😭 if that makes sense. But their sibling relationship is the biggest focus of the fic (bar maybe her romantic relationship with Eren) so I can’t NOT write about it either 😔 it’s kind of a cool challenge though as I really do think their dynamic is worthy of being explored as long as I’m careful with it and make sure it strikes the right balance without getting weird because I am NOT about that shit 🙄

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undertale-data · 3 years

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[Image Description: an Undertale chat box with the name "PAPYRUS", in all caps and Papyrus font, in its center. On its left is a talksprite of Papyrus sweating anxiously, and on its right is a talksprite of Papyrus wearing sunglasses. End I.D.]

The Great Papyrus is the most popular Undertale character among the fans surveyed here. 19.6% of responders chose him as their favorite. That’s a total of 519 fans! (Wowie!!)

Not all Papyrus fans are unified on his characterization, however. The most obvious divide was between fans who call him a “cinnamon roll” or “precious baby,” and those who find these takes infantilizing. A lot of people like the friendliness and optimism of this character, while others recognize this but highlight his maturity too. Fans who worry about his infantilization seem most concerned with how he can be portrayed as naive or dumb by the fandom. A portion of fans specifically mentioned this naivety as a point in his favor, though the marginally more popular take seems to be that he is not naive, regardless of how he first appears. This fandom divide seems to relate to Papyrus’s autistic or ADHD coding. Many fans relate to him as ADHD and autistic themselves.

Fans also related to him in his desire for friends. Many responders think of him as a friend and a comfort character, so at least in one way his wish has been fulfilled.

The phone calls were a major reason that fans said they felt connected to Papyrus. Thanks to these calls, he has the most dialogue of any character in the game. His humor and dialogue were often highlighted as favorite qualities.

While fans may disagree on some aspects of Papyrus’s personality, it is clear that his fans all value his optimism and kindness. His fans do not see his kindness as weakness. Many talked about the complexity of his character and the strength it took for him to show mercy to the player character, even when the player doesn’t show it in return. He believes in himself, and he believes in you! This kindness and trust has inspired his fans to be kinder themselves.

Papyrus fans were also drawn to his mysteriousness. Several responses pointed out that he is a more mysterious character than Sans, who is also often loved for his mystery. As shown in the phone calls, Papyrus will put on fronts depending on who he is around, making it even more difficult for fans to uncover his secrets. Some people in other sections of the survey found this frustrating, but Papyrus fans tend to see it as another point in his favor.

Among the greatest proportion of responses were from fans who couldn’t choose a favorite trait, or who just love everything about Papyrus. While these responses may be less lengthy, they are still as full of love as the essay-length answers. These responses tended to say phrases like “cool dude” or “Papyrus my beloved” or “THE GREAT PAPYRUS.”

(You were overcome by writing about such a handsome skeleton. He understands.)

Highlights: (under the cut)

Honestly Papyrus just feels like joy. Funny, incredibly kind, with a few mysteries/weird quirks about him that are fun to ponder over. I especially love how he often acts proud and self aggrandizing without putting others down, and in fact sometimes uses that to lift his friends up alongside him. You don't see this take on proud characters often.

Papyrus is strong. Strong in body, but also morally strong. He knows what is right, what it means to be merciful and kind, even in the face of danger or death. Some think him naive. And yet, even facing death and seeing the dust of those he knew, he did not falter or turn from his ideals of mercy and change for the better.

BECAUSE HE IS THE GREAT PAPYRUS

His optimism and his overall personality is endearing! You're always having fun with him :D

He's meeting all of my standards.

Papyrus is very under appreciated, and overlooked, and it's very frustrating to me—he's a complex character but people treat him like he's a baby!!! I like him because he's kind of goofy with how he talks and he's just very charming and kind.

He's weirder than Sans, and it wasn't acknowledged for years because he acts oblivious and dumb, even when he's clearly not. Quite frankly, I find it iconic. Also, his entire personality helps a lot.

I'm ND, trans, and projecting!

OK SO he's just a friendly guy!! A dude who likes cooking for his friends!! We love a hype man!! Also smart as hell and I feel like fanon majorly overlooks this. Making good, fun puzzles is HARD and setting up a flamethrower to go off wirelessly is complicated. Like even if that bridge puzzle didn't go off the components were complicated. Love that cool dude!!!!

I heavily relate to Papyrus as a character and consider him my favorite fictional character of all time. He is a very well-written and thought out character with several quirks and layers in his personality. It is headcanoned by some (myself included) that Papyrus may possibly be on the Autism Spectrum due to his nature, his interactions with others, and overall how he displays himself to the world we see.

I could talk about Papyrus forever, and you have made a grave mistake in allowing me to do so. He is a charming, strong spirited, well intentioned, complex character that is often wildly misinterpreted, and I think originally this is why I was drawn to him. He is presented as one thing and in fact acts as one thing (though not the same way as presented by fandom), and in reality when you look closer than you are meant to he is not, in fact, any of these things. It was intriguing to me. Secondly, and rather contradictorily, another thing that drew me to him is that he is very true to himself, when it comes to idiosyncrasies and moral values. It's true that he does not offer much in the way of personal backstory and feelings, but he offers very much indeed in the way of personality. What a guy! He wears silly crop tops and bright colors, he speaks in a manner specific to him that sometimes doesn't make sense, he cares about something or someone and goes whole hog with it -- he's passionate, damn it! I love him and his weirdo, goofy self with all my heart. He cares about other people to a fault, too. He would sacrifice everything to help someone, and his belief in the potential of both others and himself is indomitable. When faced with the responsibility of a kingdom, his friends gone, his brother lying to him, and himself all alone without a reliable support system, he recognized what he was facing and still bucked up and became determined to get through it. When faced with a murderous, over powerful enemy, someone who had killed many of his friends and fellow monsters, someone who had repeatedly been rude and borderline aggressive and showed no signs of stopping, he saw that they were having difficulty and offered to help and to care for them, and didn't regret his decision or change his opinion on what they needed and their potential for change, even when quite literally killed by them a moment after. Even in death, even directly after a betrayal like that, he never stops believing that they can get better, that anyone can be a good person if they want to be. That's important, I think; that concept of giving people the chances they need to grow and to change. I have a tattoo of that moment on my thigh, it's that important to me. I guess I really like Papyrus because even though he is fictional, watching him out there makes it easy to believe in people, in our inherent goodness and desire to love each other. He makes it easy to see that we can change, that no matter what you've done in the past or who you currently are, no one is inherently a bad person, and no one is incapable of learning how to be a good one. It is just a step by step process that we have to take day by day.

[Image Description: A wordcloud shaped like Papyrus. His gloves, boots, and cape are red; his Battle Body is blue, yellow, and white; and his bones are white. Some of the most visible words are: Kind, Love, Good, Cool, Relate, Funny, Friend, Mystery, and Papyrus. These are the words that responders mentioned most in their essays about him. End I.D.]

Read the full list of responses shared with permission by clicking this link! (The document is 25 pages long, so you may want to make a copy to prevent lagging.)

#papyrus #character analysis #undertale #undertale fandom census #results

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goldenraeofsun · 3 years

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A/b/o + celebrities and/or coffee shop 👀

Thanks so much for the prompt, Julesy, and I'm so sorry for the long wait! Part II should be up in the next few days, but hopefully this beginning 7k will satisfy for the time being 😘

Castiel is elbow-deep in suds when Jo plunks a medium to-go cup on the edge of the sink. “Thank you?” he says, bemused.

“It’s not for you, doofus,” Jo says, rolling her eyes. “There’s a customer out back,” she jerks her head towards the service exit that leads to the alley where they dump their trash and Ruby takes her furtive smoke breaks. “I need you to take this to him.”

“Out back?” Castiel repeats dubiously, craning his neck to catch sight of their on-site baker, Benny, who is busy kneading focaccia dough for tomorrow’s sandwiches. Benny, full of southern politeness, doesn’t give any indication he’s eavesdropping.

Jo gives Castiel a short nod, her alpha scent flaring with irritation. “I’d take it out there myself, but he always talks my ear off, and Kevin still can’t draw a latte art that doesn’t look like a dick, so…”

Castiel frowns but nods, and Jo’s expression eases once she doesn't hear a challenge to her request. Still, he has to ask, “But why doesn’t he order at the counter like a normal customer?”

Jo takes a step back towards the door. “You’ll see. Just… don’t make a big deal of it.”

“A big deal of what?” Castiel calls to her, but she’s already disappeared out to the front of the cafe.

Castiel sighs and wipes his hands on a dish towel. He picks up the drink, sniffing curiously.

He nearly gags at the strong aroma of brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and apples all on top of espresso and milk. They definitely don’t serve that on the menu. Admittedly, Castiel hasn’t memorized the list of hot drinks they serve at Hunter’s Cafe, but this is an assault on anyone with a nose. He’s been their busboy and dishwasher for six months since his second year as a graduate student began, and Jo has only let him mind the counter three times, all as far from peak time as she could get.

But a job is a job. Holding the drink, he shoulders open the back door.

“Hey - oh, you’re not Jo,” a familiar voice says.

Castiel stops dead in his tracks because, despite the sunglasses, the baseball hat, and hunched shoulders, Dean Winchester is unmistakable.

Away from the limelight, Dean apparently favors soft-looking flannels over worn tee shirts and jeans. In one hand, he holds a half depleted sheaf of french fries. Stunned, Castiel doesn't immediately hand over the reason for his appearance.

“Whatever, is that mine?” Dean demands, zeroing in on Castiel’s cup.

Still beyond speech, Castiel dumbly hands the affront to coffee over.

After a muttered thanks, Dean takes a long drink. “Christ, this tastes even better than normal.”

Castiel inhales a surreptitious breath. It’s not every day one gets to catch the scent of Hollywood’s omega darling.

Not that anyone would know Dean's secondary gender just by looking at him. Dean stands a few inches taller than the average male omega - he has nearly an inch of height on Castiel, and Castiel is the dictionary definition of standard alpha physique.

While Castiel might not be Dean’s most knowledgeable fan, he hasn’t been living under a rock for the past five years. It was all over the papers when Dean was cast in his first alpha role. Dean wasn’t the first omega actor to do so, but he was certainly the most prominent. Castiel’s sister, Anna, an actual fan, spent a memorable dinner ranting about how all the prejudiced reporters on the press tour. Apparently they only asked Dean about the diet and exercise routine that transform into a “real” alpha, while, in the next round, his alpha castmates fielded questions about their characters’ moral code and complex development.

But, in the alley behind Hunter’s Café, Castiel’s nose is completely overwhelmed by the fryers of the fast food restaurant next door, the set of dumpsters directly to his right, and the almost offensively apple coffee Dean is currently drinking like his life depends on it. Dean could smell like old gym socks for all Castiel can tell.

“Where’s Jo?” Dean asks once he resurfaces. He jams a few fries in his mouth. Before he's finished chewing, he sucks down some more latte in an unholy taste combination.

“Busy,” Castiel replies. “We have a new hire, and so far Kevin can only draw genitalia on lattes instead of flowers.”

Dean guffaws, nearly inhaling his drink. Swearing unrepentantly, he takes his sunglasses off and rubs at his temple with his free hand. “Christ, I’m too hungover to laugh like that.” He squints over at Castiek before sliding the sunglasses back on his face.

Castiel stares. “If you’re hungover, why are you here at -” he checks his watch “-seven in the morning?”

Dean slurps at his fruity latte before he answers. “Got a meeting at nine. This,” he says, brandishing his mostly empty cup, “and a large fries are the cure.” His hands occupied, Dean ducks his head to fish a single fry out and holds it like a cigarette between his lips.

“That sounds disgusting,” Castiel says, aghast.

Dean inches the rest of the fry into his mouth. “Don't knock it ‘til you try it,” he says with a wink.

Cas blushes.

“Hey,” Dean says, a new thought coming to him, “What’s your name?”

Taken aback by the question, he answers, “Castiel.”

Dean mouths his name once, his brow furrowing at the new syllables. With a small shrug of capitulation he says, “Well, Cas, thanks for the drink.” He toasts him one before tipping the cup all the way back, draining it.

“You’re welcome, Dean.”

Dean grins. “I couldn't tell if you recognized me or not.”

“I did,” Castiel says, clearly unnecessarily.

Amused, Dean throws him a long, considering look. “You’ve got one hell of a poker face.” He unceremoniously shovels the rest of the fries in his mouth and balls up the wrapper. He tosses it with practiced ease into the waiting dumpster.

“Thank you?” Cas says, nonplussed.

“Thank you,” Dean says, pushing his sunglasses up his nose. “You’re the one who saved my hide.” He sidles forward and shoves a bill into Castiel’s slack hand. Without another word, he takes off out of the alley and onto the street.

Once he’s out of sight, Castiel unclenches his hand. Dean tipped him ten dollars.

* * *

“How is this even more pungent than last time?” Castiel demands, nose wrinkling as he sets a now clean muffin tin back on the shelf. It’s been a week since he met Dean Winchester, and hadn’t gotten so much as a whiff of apple pie since then.

He is alone with Jo in the kitchen, since Benny’s early morning shift ends at eleven.

“I added a caramel drizzle,” Jo says, her scent rising with her self-satisfaction.

Castiel stares at her in horror. “Why on earth would you do that?”

“’Cause I’m trying to see what his limit is, and so far - nothing,” Jo says, shrugging. “Get to it. He’s real grouchy if you make him wait too long.”

“And why aren’t you taking it to him?” Castiel says, eyebrows rising. “Kevin’s moved onto multiple hearts now. Admittedly, his first one looked like a labia, but he’s gotten much better.”

“But Ruby didn’t show up, so we’re short staffed,” Jo says shortly. Outside, Kevin yells something indistinguishable though the kitchen door, and Jo winces.

Castiel takes the latte.

Just like last time, Dean is waiting, wearing a different flannel but the same jeans with the hole above the left knee. He abandoned the sunglasses, since the clouds overhead cast the whole alley in shade. They’re hanging from the vee of his shirt collar, pulling the fabric down a tempting extra inch.

Unfortunately, the fast food restaurant next door must have just taken out the trash last night, since the alley reeks of stale bread and rotting fish patties.

Castiel lets the door slam behind him, unable to hold back his corresponding smile as Dean lights up as he sees him.

“Thank god,” Dean says as he reaches for the latte. “I was starting to think Jo was gonna stiff me.”

“We’re short staffed at the moment,” Castiel says apologetically, “so you got me again.”

Dean eyes him over the lid of his cup. “Not a downside from where I’m standin’,” he drawls.

Castiel has no idea how to respond to that, so he doesn’t. Dean can’t mean it like Castiel thinks he does. He’s an actor, feeding people lines is the dictionary definition of his job. Instead Castiel asks, “No french fries this time?” because he’s not nearly ready to leave yet.

“Already ate ’em, while I was waiting,” Dean says dismissively.

Castiel shoves his hands in his pockets. “I’m sorry.”

“No harm, no foul,” Dean says with a little grin. “I got my caffeine fix eventually, and that’s what I really care about.”

“You look remarkably more put together than last time,” Castiel says as he leans against the doorway, watching Dean sip at his drink.

“Didn’t drink as much,” Dean says with a grin. He tips back his cup and takes a long pull. “Fries can only get you halfway there. Christ, that’s the stuff.”

Castiel can’t help but make a face. The latte smells horrendous; it can’t taste that much better.

“What?” Dean asks, eyes narrowing.

Castiel probably shouldn’t tell Dean what is exactly on his mind. Castiel has found very few people appreciate his default brand of honesty - Hunter’s Café customers, especially. But Dean isn’t technically his customer - he’s Jo’s - and Castiel has reached the point in his life where he doesn’t need to hang onto people who don’t like him and vice versa. Dean isn’t even providing extra publicity for the establishment, since he’s getting serviced in the alley behind the kitchen.

Technically, Castiel needs a celebrity acquaintance as much as he needs a free bag of cat food (he doesn’t have a cat).

But he does like having one.

A celebrity acquaintance, that is. Cats are inherently suspicious.

Reluctantly, Castiel says, “I can’t imagine that latte tastes very good.”

To his surprise, instead of demanding Jo bring him his coffee from now on, Dean laughs. “Not a fan of apple pie?”

“Not in my coffee.”

Dean takes an obnoxiously loud slurp. “I think it’s delicious.”

“I think your taste buds must be severely incapacitated.”

Dean waggles the near empty cup in front of Castiel’s face in what must be an enticing manner to someone with no sense of smell or taste. “Wanna try?”

Castiel valiantly holds back his recoil. “No, thank you.”

But Dean’s genial expression doesn’t waver. “‘M feeling pretty much human again, so it’s up for grabs.”

“I’d sooner lick the dumpster,” Castiel blurts before he can filter himself.

Dean whistles, rocking back on his heels. “Harsh.”

Castiel sighs. Honesty was a mistake. He mutters, embarrassed, “I’m just not a very big fan of sweets.”

“No?”

“I’ve been living with my cousin while in graduate school at Columbia,” he explains, his tone apologetic for his earlier comment, “and he has a horrendous sweet tooth. I don’t think he’s ever seen a carrot that wasn’t in a cake first.”

A wide grin splits Dean’s face. He laughs.

What Castiel wouldn’t give to scent Dean’s joy for himself. “He would probably love that latte,” Castiel continues wryly.

“Probably,” Dean agrees. He taps his fingers against the sides of the cup as he asks, “So you’re in school? For what?”

“Do you really want to know?” Castiel asks seriously. He’s had too many conversations with strangers and casual friends who have asked the exact same question and regretted asking it almost immediately.

Dean ducks his head. “I don’t know any graduate students, and I,” he breaks off, his cheeks going pink, “I never went to college, so I have no idea what it means.” He sucks on the dregs of his latte, gaze dropping to the vicinity of Castiel’s knees.

“Oh,” Castiel says, feeling lighter. “In that case, I’m studying ethnomusicology.”

Dean’s eyes narrow in suspicion. “Are you fucking with me? That doesn’t sound real.”

“It’s a legitimate area of study,” Castiel assures him. “I research music as it pertains to culture and diverse elements of social life. Ethnomusicology focuses not only on the music itself, but music as a social process, as a medium for humans to relate to each other. In short, it examines how music functions in a particular society.”

To Castiel’s surprise, Dean doesn’t get the glazed-over look most people do when he explains his field of study. “So what kind of music are you talking about?”

Now it’s Castiel’s turn to flush. His colleagues, while they respect his academic reputation, have nearly all looked down on his chosen object of study. “One of the main tenets of ethnomusicology is a global perspective on music-”

“What, like Tibetan throat-singing?” Dean interrupts. At Castiels’ stare, he explains quickly, “Sammy had a phase.”

Castiel chuckles. “Yes, I do know a professor at Cornell who is studying just that. But my focus is much closer to home. I study,” he inhales a small breath, “tribute bands.”

Dean’s mouth twitches. “What.”

“Tribute bands offer a fascinating definition of the nature of performance, the difference between authenticity and identity,” Castiel says, already on the defensive. He can already hear his voice trying to fall into his usual academic patterns, and tries to rein himself in, “and historical consciousness in popular music. Here -” He pulls out his phone.

Dean listens in complete silence to Yellow Dubmarine’s cover of I Want You.

“Anyway,” Castiel coughs, embarrassed he made Dean sit through all that, “I also teach Rock and Roll from the 1950s to 1980s. There is a great deal of crossover with my specialty since most tribute bands recreate acts from the 60s to the 80s.”

“Dude,” Dean says in a rush, “if you think that makes you less interesting, you’ve got another thing coming.”

Castiel blinks.

“What bands are we talkin’ about?” he asks eagerly. “More Beatles? The Stones? The Who?”

Castiel nods. “I’m hoping to go to a Lez Zeppelin concert next month.”

“Led Zeppelin?”

“Lez,” Castiel says, emphasizing the ‘z’, “an all-female Led Zeppelin tribute band.”

Dean frowns. “They have a gimmick?”

Castiel shakes his head. “They’re completely sincere, I assure you.” He smiles wryly. “I interviewed Misstallica for a paper I’m writing on diverse, for lack of a better word, musicians in the tribute world, and they felt right at home with the long hair and tight pants. I’ve never met people who more adore the songs they perform.”

“Huh,” Dean says, rubbing his chin.

“Except maybe Air-O-Smith,” Castiel adds, “an American all-omega tribute band of Aerosmith.”

Dean’s eyes widen to the size of dinner plates.

“My favorite all-omega tribute band, though, is Omega You Eight One Two,” Castiel muses, “a Van Halen cover band.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Dean says faintly.

“Their lead guitarist, as you can imagine, is phenomenal.”

Dean shakes his head, his expression going slack. “Wait, seriously? That’s a thing? All omega acts?”

“Of course,” Castiel says. “That’s one of the most compelling aspects of tribute bands, when they flip the traditional male-alpha dynamic of the original, and how they translate that into their own act while keeping the whole performance authentic to the creators. It’s a fascinating process to watch and study.”

“I bet,” Dean says fervently. “Hey, d’you think-”

The back door opens before Dean can finish his sentence.

Jo pokes her head out, looking askance at the pair of them. “Are you still out here?” She glares at Dean. “Stop complaining about your diet, and let Castiel come back to work.”

Castiel’s mouth purses. “You’re on a diet?”

“Not on cheat day,” Dean tells him, lifting his empty cup. He turns to Jo. “And I wasn’t complaining at all. Cas was actually telling me about tribute bands.”

“Really?” Jo asks, her nose wrinkling.

Dean tosses his trash in the dumpsters. “They sound awesome.”

“I like them,” Castiel says lamely, off-footed now the conversation is clearly wrapping up.

Jo rolls her eyes, alpha irritation practically radiating off her. “Good for you.”

“Alright, well, I’ll let you deal with Joanna Beth on your own,” Dean says as he pulls out his wallet and hands Castiel a folded bill. He gives a mocking salute as he takes a step back, “Good luck, dude.”

“Thank you?”

“Come on, fanboy,” Jo growls once Dean’s disappeared from view, “back to work.”

* * *

“Can’t you take it?” Castiel asks, his tone verging on pleading, as Jo follows him back into the kitchen. It’s too early in the morning for another meeting, closer to first time Castiel met Dean at seven am compared to their last meeting at a little before eleven.

This past weekend, Castiel went down a spiral of Dean Winchester content. He read up on all of Dean’s recent projects, scanned headlines about rumors of his next film - some action thriller that Castiel presumes is the reason for Dean’s diet, and watched interview after interview. Dean on Stephen Colbert. Dean on Good Morning America. Dean on some very confusing show where they forced him to eat spicy chicken wings, which just seemed like an exercise in pepper-based sadism.

Castiel didn’t really understand the Saturday Night Live skit where Dean played one half of a demon-hunting brother duo, but the live studio audience laughed uproariously at multiple points.

Jo all but slams Dean’s latte on the ledge above the sink. “You know the health inspector is here. I can’t let Ruby near the guy, and you know how Kevin gets around figures of authority.”

Castiel sets down his tub of dirty dishes. “He nearly peed himself when he had to tell you he dropped a tray of scones over the floor last week,” he says flatly.

“Exactly,” Jo says. “Benny is busy,” she says, tipping her head to where Benny is adding more flour to a huge bowl.

“Cheers, darlin’.”

She turns back to Castiel. “So, you’re it today, champ.”

“Great,” Castiel grumbles.

“What?” Jo asks, her hands on her hips. “You seemed to get along with Dean. I actually didn’t know you could talk that much before I sent you back there.”

Castiel carefully transfers the dirty plates to the sink. “Getting along with him isn’t the problem,” he says darkly.

“Getting along with him too well is the issue?” Jo asks, her eyebrows rising.

Castiel scowls at her observation. Her emotional intuition is what makes her an excellent café manager, so he can hardly fault her for that. He doesn’t respond to her question.

“Take it to him,” Jo says, her tone softening. “He likes you.”

Castiel raises his head to stare at her. “How do you know that?”

Jo pulls her phone from her back pocket and waves it in his face. “We talk,” she says. “How do you think he orders every time? He’s not getting those lattes for free, not after I spent so much time getting them exactly right.”

Castiel can’t hold back his grimace. The latte still smells awful, like a vat of boiled candied apples.

“Look,” Jo says, lowering her voice, “Dean’s famous, sure, but he’s actually a very private person. He runs his mouth to anyone who’ll listen, but he never really says anything important. So he doesn’t really connect with a lot of people. If he says he likes you, I’m gonna say that’s a good thing - if you tell him I said this, I’ll kick your ass - and make you his designated errand boy.”

Castiel bites his lip. “But I don’t -”

“Dude, don’t make me pull the boss card,” Jo says, just the barest hint of threat in her words.

“Fine.” Castiel snatches the latte off the counter. “But I want a raise.”

“You can get a free sandwich.”

Castiel glares daggers as he shoulders open the back door.

But the alley is empty.

Castiel breathes through his mouth as he steps out. The overflowing dumpsters carry the odor of moldering cheese and more rancid fish, and the fryers next door are still going strong. He doesn’t find Dean lurking behind the trash for some strange reason, and he’s about to head back in and dump Dean’s latte down the sink when a shout makes him turn around.

“Hey, Cas!” Dean calls, jogging in from the brightly lit street.

“Hello, Dean.” He hands over the latte.

“Thanks - sorry.” Dean rubs the back of his neck with his other hand. “Some fans caught me sneaking in here, and wanted a selfie.”

“Oh,” Castiel says for lack of anything better to say.

Dean tips back his cup, his expression falling into pure bliss. “Christ, that’s so much better when I’m not hungover.”

Castiel stares. “You’re drinking that with all your capacities intact?”

“Ain’t no better way to enjoy pie,” Dean says, grinning widely.

Castiel rolls his eyes. “That’s not pie.”

“It’s as close as I’m gonna get at eight in the morning on a Thursday,” Dean says with a shrug.

Silence falls between them, and Castiel can’t help glancing over Dean’s shoulder, tentatively scanning for the people who caught his attention earlier. Plenty more would have approached Dean if he didn’t have Jo’s latte waiting for him; Castiel would bet his job on it.

Dean is a celebrity.

Castiel is a grad student who can’t even afford to support a guinea pig on his stipend and café salary.

After a long beat, Dean asks, a touch hesitantly, “So, what’ve you been up to?”

Stalking you on the internet.

“Nothing,” Castiel lies. At the slight fall in Dean’s expression, he adds, “I cleaned my kitchen over the weekend.”

Dean chuckles. “You’re a weird dude, you know that?”

Hurt, Castiel takes a step back. Jo probably needs him for… something.

“Not in a bad way!” Dean says quickly. “Shit,” he swears under his breath, “please don’t stop giving me coffee.”

Castiel hesitates. “Why is it weird that I cleaned my kitchen?” He frowns. “I suppose you employ someone to do that for you.”

Dean seesaws his free hand back and forth as he sips at his latte. “Not always,” he lowers his voice, “I actually like cleaning - it helps me relax and shit. There’s nothing like blasting some tunes and scrubbing out that stain on the counter that’s been annoying you forever.”

Castiel lowers his voice too. “Is this a secret?”

Dean grimaces. “Not really. But, you know, it’s one of those omega things.”

Castiel doesn’t know. Well, he knows it is a stereotypical omega trait to like housework, but he has no idea why Dean would whisper it in a back alley like he’s confessing to defrauding an elderly relative. “And that is bad because…?”

Dean takes a long pull from his cup. “I don’t want to hammer the omega thing home too hard, alright?”

“But you are an omega,” Castiel says, feeling a little stupid for saying it out loud.

“Yeah,” Dean sighs, “but if I lean into it, I’ll stop getting alpha roles.”

“You only want to play alphas?” Castiel asks curiously.

Dean’s mouth twists. “They’re the better parts. Omegas are always the damsels in distress or get killed off first for the plot.”

“I’m sure not all films are like that,” Castiel says. God knows, Anna made him sit through enough films with an omega protagonist that did not fit the typical romantic comedy restrictions.

“Most.”

“The last movie I saw,” Castiel says, hesitant because Dean must know more about this than him, “my sister recommended it, it had an omega lead who led a team of paranormal investigators. A sort of horror-comedy.”

Dean’s face loses some of its hostility. Almost intrigued, he asks gruffly, “D’you know who wrote it?”

“Not off the top of my head.” Castiel pulls out his phone to look it up. He reads aloud, “Ghostfacers, directed by Ed Zeddmore, written by Harry Spangler. Starred Maggie Zeddmore and Alan Corbett.” He pauses, trying to remember the details. “I think they both were omegas. I’m sure there are more films like Ghostfacers out there for you to make.”

Dean sips at his latte. “A few. None with big enough names attached to really get on my radar.”

“Well, if you signed on, wouldn’t there be a big name attached?”

“Yeah,” Dean says in a tone that clearly conveys he’s thought of this possibility before. He runs a hand through his hair. “It’s just - what if I take one of these roles, and it gets all this attention just ’cause I’m in it, and it flops?”

Castiel tilts his head. “That would hardly be your fault. Most failed films are hardly the work of one person. Usually, it’s a combination of a bad story, bad production, and bad acting.” He levels Dean an appraising look. “Right off the bat, you control two of those elements - pick a good script and act as well as you always have.”

Dean blinks. “You’ve seen my stuff?”

Castiel’s brow furrows. “I thought I already said I knew who you were?”

“Yeah, but,” Dean says, his voice petering off with embarrassment, “that didn’t mean you liked my movies.”

“The majority of America liked your last movie, Dean,” Castiel says dryly. “Either that, or you have a very hardworking and wealthy mother who poured a hundred million dollars into ticket sales.”

“I mean, Mom’s a fan, but not that big of a fan,” Dean says, chuckling. “I’m pretty sure she’d rather get a twenty-minute call from yours truly than sit through a two-hour flick with my name on the poster.”

Castiel hands over his phone. “Here,” he says, tilting it so Dean can see the summary of Ghostfacers.

Dean brightens as he reads through it. “The Alpha dies first?”

“He thought he could deal with the ghost on his own.”

“Typical alpha macho,” Dean snorts. His head snaps up as he gives the phone back. “No offense.”

“No offense taken,” Castiel says easily. “With my lifestyle, posturing is a waste of time. I’ve long ago resigned myself to not being the primary breadwinner in any future household.”

“Really?”

Castiel throws him a look. “I’m in academia, Dean. Tenure is hardly a guarantee. Even so, there isn’t a wealth of money out there for ethnomusicology grants.”

Dean tips his head in acknowledgement. “It’s awful big of you.”

“Just logical,” Castiel says evenly. “It shrinks my dating pool considerably, but I’d rather do what I love than compromise that much for any potential partner.”

Dean inhales a deep breath, his eyes unfathomable. “I get that.”

“If it means I can’t afford to mate a house-omega, I’ll just have to keep cleaning my kitchen myself,” Castiel finishes with a shrug.

Dean grins. “I mean, if you spot me a six pack and don’t tell my trainer about it, I’ll clean your kitchen.”

Castiel turns bright red. He can’t bring himself to respond to that offer, so he changes the subject.

* * *

Castiel doesn’t even bother pretending to protest as Jo barges into the kitchen, the telltale scent of sugary apples wafting around her like a palpable shield. Castiel already set himself for heartbreak where Dean Winchester is concerned. He might as well take advantage of every interaction he has left.

He went to sleep late last night, watching one of Dean’s earlier movies. He was slimmer and younger, but he still shone with his signature charisma and talent. For the first time since Castiel started the morning shift at Hunter’s Café, he snoozed his alarm.

Hurrying through his morning routine, Castiel couldn’t help resenting Dean just a little. If only Dean hadn’t chosen a profession where his literal job is to be whatever his audience wants him to be.

As Castiel pushes open the door, Dean is waiting outside. Dark sunglasses shield his green eyes, and a violet bruise blooms over his left eyebrow. As the door slams shut behind Castiel, Dean winces. His left hand holds a half-empty paper container of french fries.

“Hello, Dean,” Castiel says. “You don’t look good.”

“Tell me about it,” Dean says darkly. “Gimme.”

Castiel pauses. “Did your hangover eliminate your manners?”

Dean flushes bright red. “No,” he mutters. “Sorry, Cas. I just feel like shit.”

“You look like shit,” Castiel says frankly as he hands it over.

“Thanks,” Deans says, his voice sour as old lemons. “I told Charlie tequila shots before Monopoly was a bad idea, but did anyone listen to me?” He gestures to his face. “Next thing I know, Jo’s throwing Charlie’s bag of DnD dice at my head.”

“You got that playing Monopoly? Wait, Jo did this to you?” he demands, gesturing to the cafe behind him. “Jo Harvelle?”

Dean just glares over the rim of his coffee cup. “Yeah, Katniss got me good.”

“God, why?”

One corner of Dean’s mouth lifts in a distinctly smug smirk. “’Cause she was going bankrupt, and she had to sell her last property to me.”

“So this was because of Monopoly,” Castiel says dubiously. In his experience, a board game has never led to actual violence.

Dean shrugs. “Game nights get intense. Why do you think I’m always bangin’ down your door the morning after?”

Castiel can’t believe it. “You’ve been getting this drunk at a game night? Every time?”

“So what?” Dean shoves four french fries in his mouth. “Whaddya think I was doin’?”

“Partying?” he suggests.

Dean snorts. “Maybe six years ago when I was doing B-level flicks and trying to meet as many people as I could. Now I have a back-to-back shooting schedule and hangovers if I don’t pace myself.”

Castiel watches Dean polish off his fries at a truly impressive and horrifying speed. He can’t help asking, “Why was Jo at your game night?”

“’Cause she’s a menace who knows how to pick locks?” Dean heaves a weighty sigh. “I’ve known Jo since we were kids. She and her mom - who started Hunter’s Café - were my neighbors.”

“I had no idea.”

Dean gestures to the alley with a wry hand. “Jo likes to keep it under wraps.”

“I see why Jo keeps making those drinks for you,” Castiel says, nodding at the half-finished latte in Dean’s hand.

“You didn’t make it?” Dean says, and does he sound almost disappointed?

Castiel shakes his head. “Jo is keeping the recipe close to the chest.”

“Probably worried everyone’ll want one if they get the taste.” Dean tips the cup back.

Castiel can’t help his noise of disgust. At Dean’s sharp look, he says aloud, “She’s probably worried everyone will never come back if they try it.”

Dean’s laugh cuts off with a wince. He raises a hand to his head. “Christ, last night was a mistake.”

Castiel surreptitiously scents the air for a better gauge of how discomfited Dean really is, but, as always, all he gets is trash and fryer oil. “How are you doing? Apart from the injury, headache, and general hangover-related malaise.”

“Oh, apart from that?” Dean echoes mockingly, but his words lack any heat. He crams a few fries into his mouth. “I asked my agent to send me a few more scripts with omega roles,” he mutters.

Castiel smiles. “That’s great.”

Dean hums his agreement. “Hopefully, she’ll pick out a decent one, and I can get something set up for after Two for the Show wraps.”

“Is Two for the Show the reason for your diet?”

Dean huffs. “Yeah. I have a bunch of shirtless scenes, so that means three months with the diet coach from hell.”

Castiel makes a noise of sympathy. After a moment, he asks, “Is it worth it?”

Dean chews a fry, scowling between bites. “Not really,” he says in a low voice. “Sammy’s the farmers market maniac in the family.” Wistfully, he continues, “Give me a good cheeseburger deluxe every day for the rest of my life with a side of pie, and I’ll die a happy man.”

“I didn’t think apple pie came as a side.”

“Not for you, maybe,” Dean says with an obnoxiously loud slurp of his latte.

Castiel doesn’t bother holding back his smile.

Dean sighs, rubbing his temple with the heel of his hand. “It’s just like, I don’t look like a traditional omega, so I figured I might as well try for the alpha roles.” He swallows. “’S a win-win situation. I look the part and the characters are better - what’s the downside?”

Castiel cocks his head. “Other than your restricted diet and inadvisable levels of drinking?”

A humorless smile pulls at Dean's mouth. “Not pullin’ the punches this morning, huh?”

Castiel colors, his face heating with shame. “I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well.” An inadequate excuse, but it’s not like he can tell Dean the real reason for his more uncharitable thoughts.

Castiel has never been one to lean into his alpha instincts. Possessiveness, aggression, arrogance - Castiel has had his (mostly regrettable) moments, but they hardly define his character. But over these past few weeks, he’s had to repeatedly tell himself that he can’t solve Dean’s problems. Dean is a wildly successful adult with millions of fans, while Castiel can’t even handle Hunter Cafe's front counter during the morning rush.

Dean would hardly welcome a nobody little alpha telling him to just… do what he wants and damn the consequences because he deserves to be happy with his life and his work.

Dean plucks out the rest of his fries and balls the wrapper against his hip. He lobs it in the dumpster. “No, I get it. I’m complaining about things that most people would kill to have.” He glances towards the mouth of the alley, his mouth set in a thin line.

But before Dean can leave, Castiel says quickly, “That’s not the way I see it. Your specific frustrations aren’t universal, but hardly anyone’s are. Society is inherently unfair, and it’s understandable to be angry about it.”

God knows Castiel railed enough about the unfairness of Dean Winchester to Gabriel enough over the past few weeks.

Even now, hungover and bruised, Dean is beautiful.

Castiel steels himself. “And, for what it’s worth, I don’t think not looking like a typical omega is a bad thing.”

Dean turns to him in surprise, and Castiel would give up that free sandwich Jo offered him to be able to scent what exactly Dean is feeling. But, after a second that stretches into an eternity, all Dean gives him is a quiet, “Thanks, Cas.”

Castiel nods, chastised by Dean’s reaction. “I should get back to work,” he says awkwardly.

Dean mutters something that might be a swear underneath his breath. Raising his voice, he says, his tone apologetic, “’Course. Sorry for keeping you.”

Castiel shakes his head. “It’s alright. I,” he pauses, “always enjoy talking to you.”

Dean’s mouth lifts into a small smile, and it’s like the sun rising through the early morning fog. “You too, man.”

* * *

After his next shift, Castiel asks Jo to show him how to make Dean’s apple pie latte.

Castiel’s first attempt is a disaster. He burns the espresso and adds too much nutmeg. Jo makes him try it anyway, as a non-monetary payment for her time. As Castiel gags, a smirking Jo dumps the bitter, weirdly savory mess down the sink.

“Passable,” Jo declares at Castiel’s second try. “You need more of the apple concentrate, though.”

“It’ll be too strong,” Castiel protests even as he shakes more powder in and gives it a stir. He hands it back to Jo for evaluation.

“You could barely taste it!” Jo says. She raises it to her lips. “Mm, that’s the stuff.”

“It is?” Castiel asks hopefully.

Jo nods and pushes the cup towards him. “That’s what it’s supposed to taste like.”

Castiel frowns as the overly sweet apples hit his tongue. He can barely taste the coffee underneath all the other layers.

“Trust me,” Jo says, flipping her hair behind her shoulder as she sets Castiel up for a third cup. “Your scent’s getting in the way, but it tastes exactly like an apple pie.”

“My scent?” Castiel echoes, baffled.

Jo throws him a look as she pushes a clean coffee cup into his hands. “Yeah, you already smell, I dunno, crisp but sweet? A little like apples. Makes you think the latte dials it up to eleven when it’s more like a nine for everyone else.”

Castiel hadn’t thought to put those pieces together, but it makes an astonishing amount of sense.

He brings his last apple pie latte home to Gabriel, and his cousin makes him write down, step by step, how to make it. In between actual licks into the cup to get the dregs, Gabriel swears to visit him at Hunter’s Café more often.

When Jo next ducks her head into the kitchen to tell Castiel that Dean will swing by in fifteen minutes, Castiel gets to work. He awkwardly sidles behind the front counter and maneuvers around Ruby and Kevin, nearly knocking Kevin’s elbow as Kevin attempts some elaborate leaf pattern.

Castiel draws a rudimentary apple on top of Dean’s latte, and if it looks more like a misshapen mango, nobody will see it but Dean.

For the first time, Castiel heads out to wait for Dean at the mouth of the alley.

Dean doesn’t keep him in suspense for long. He makes his way down the street, shoulders hunched, and head bowed. Gaze fixed on the dirty sidewalk, Dean doesn’t make eye contact with anyone as he turns the corner.

Dean isn’t even wearing sunglasses or a hat to hide his face, but everyone walks straight past him.

It’s the most riveting performance Castiel has ever seen.

A few steps away, Dean catches sight of him, and it’s like some magic switch is flipped on, and he is Dean Winchester again.

Smiling brightly, he jogs the rest of the distance and follows Castiel as he slinks further back into the alley. Dean wrinkles his nose as they get closer to the dumpsters and the smell of an entire rancid fast food menu hits him. “Hey, Cas,” he says as he takes his latte. “Thanks.”

“Of course,” Castiel says, tipping his head.

Dean stares down oddly at the demented pear and takes a sip. Face going slack with a bliss Castiel doesn’t even need to smell, Dean groans.

Castiel freezes and sends up a silent prayer of thanks for the apron covering his lower half over his pants. “It’s good?” he tries futilely because Dean is clearly beyond speech.

Dean just gives him a thumbs up as he lowers the cup. He licks his lips, chasing the taste, and Castiel has seen pornography less graphic.

“I might have to tip Jo this time too,” Dean says, staring at the latte in his hand in wonder.

Castiel coughs. “I - I made this one, actually.”

Dean chokes on his next mouthful. “Are you serious?”

Castiel nods because if he opens his mouth he’s not sure what exactly will come out. Probably something highly embarrassing.

“This is the best one I’ve ever had,” Dean swears.

Castiel’s whole body heats with the force of his blush. “Thank you. I asked Jo how to make it, since it seems like I’ve taken over your delivery duties.”

Dean grins. “You’re a lot more fun than Jo,” he says lightly, “so I’m not complainin’.”

Castiel didn’t think he could get any redder, but here he is.

After an awkward beat, Dean says, “I think I found my next movie.”

“Really?”

Dean shrugs, but his eyes glimmer with anticipation. “It’s a World War II biopic about an omega who sneaks into the army, disguises himself as an alpha, and rescues a unit trapped behind enemy lines.” He taps his fingers against the side of his half-empty cup. “A little on the nose, but the script is good.”

“It sounds very promising,” Castiel agrees.

“Their biggest problem was the budget - historical pics aren’t cheap. But they think if I sign on early, they can leverage my name with the studio.” He smiles shyly. “Get the movie done right.”

“That’s fantastic,” Castiel says, a delightful warmth filling his chest - still a pale reflection of Dean’s excitement.

“Thanks to you.”

Castiel’s eyes widen in surprise. “Me?”

Dean throws him a funny look. “Yeah, you. You told me to get my head outta my ass and movies I actually like doing-”

“Not in so many words-” Castiel interjects, alarmed.

“’Cause the whole point of doing these stupid macho alpha flicks was so I could get the clout and money to do the stuff I actually liked,” Dean continues. “And I kept thinking, can’t do it yet, not there yet, until some rando tells me, fuck yeah you can.”

“I definitely didn’t say that-”

“It was implied,” Dean says blithely, waving off his protests. “So I figured, if this dude who doesn’t know me from Adam-”

“I’ve seen several of your films.”

“- tells me to go for it - it being something I’d thought of doing for years - is there any real reason why I shouldn’t?”

Castiel just stares at him, stunned.

Dean beams. “I’ve got a meeting with the director next week.”

“That’s wonderful,” Castiel says sincerely.

“Anyway, yeah, it’s partially thanks to you,” Dean says, tipping his latte in Castiel’s direction. “I also want to talk about romantic B-plot since I think it’s stupid.” He shakes his head, scoffing. “True mates, bullshit.”

“You think true mates are bullshit?”

As far as Castiel saw online, Dean’s never spoken on the record about true mates or any mates at all. Entertainment news sources reported rumors about him and a one-named alpha singer, Amara, early in his career, which he denounced thoroughly. A few months later, someone published revealing photos of him and an older alpha actor, Fergus Crowley. When asked about it, Dean refused to give details.

Dean makes a face. After a pause, he says, “My parents said they were true mates, but it wasn’t… pretty. No Hollywood romance between them.”

“I’m sorry.”

“’S fine,” Dean says in a tone that clearly says it isn’t. “Whenever Dad took off for a few days, I’d get to watch as many movies as I wanted, and - well, the rest is history.”

“I don’t know anyone who’s found their true mate,” Castiel says. His parents had a cold, distant marriage. A few times over the years, he wasn’t sure his mother even liked his father’s scent. Anna happily mated another omega last year, and Gabriel avoids all romantic entanglements like the black plague.

Castiel’s dating history can best be described as dismal. During his last visit to his pediatrician, his doctor called him a “late bloomer” which Castiel eventually realized just meant socially awkward. In the decade since, Castiel’s slept with a grand total of three people. And, to his supreme regret, none of them managed to bring his rusty people skills up to par.

But, in college, Castiel found music and his calling. And all his faults didn’t matter nearly as much.

In the crowd of a concert, people are so far outside the ordinary conditions of life, and so conscious of the fact, that they free themselves from individual concerns and devote themselves wholly to the collective. All their fury, their joy, their hunger for what they can’t have, is sublimated into the music.

Castiel has never felt more connected to humanity than in the middle of a crowd.

Truthfully, none of his past relationships ever measured up. None of his past partners ever managed to get Castiel out of his own head - not like the music.

Castiel shakes his head ruefully. “I wouldn’t know what to do with a true mate even if I had one.”

“Have a lot of super sappy sex with the lights on?” Dean offers, laughing.

Castiel frowns. “I wasn’t aware that kind of intercourse was restricted to true mates. I’ve done that in the past since I've always shared an emotional connection with the people I've slept with.”

“Oh,” Dean says, reddening. “Were you mated? Jo didn’t say.”

Inordinately pleased that Dean had asked Jo about him, Castiel shakes his head. “No, I’ve never been mated.”

Dean drains his latte. Swallowing, he says, “Me neither.” He throws the cup in the open dumpster and turns back to Castiel. “I haven’t dated in a while, actually,” he says in a low voice. “Couldn’t risk being seen with an alpha and remind everyone of what I’m not.”

Castiel narrows his eyes. “Surely people can’t be that close-minded.”

“’Course they can. Most are,” Dean says, his voice full of assurance.

Castiel’s mouth twists. “That sounds like a negativity bias to me.”

“Huh?”

“Negative information sticks with us longer and more strongly than any positive counterpart,” Castiel says with a shrug. “It’s something I always keep in mind when reading my course reviews after the semester is over.”

“So," Dean says, eyes dancing, "you can take the nerd out of the classroom, but you can’t take the classroom out of the nerd, huh?”

Castiel smiles wryly. “Trust me, I’ve tried.”

Dean laughs. “Look,” he starts, his expression turning a fraction more serious. “I might be fucking up a good thing here, but do you want to go to a Lez Zeppelin show next week?”

Castiel’s mouth falls open as Dean reaches out and pulls out his phone to show him a ticket confirmation email.

“It’s no big if you don’t want to,” Dean says awkwardly into the silence.

“I - I do,” Castiel says, stumbling over the words. “You do?”

“Uh,” Dean throws him a bemused look, “Yeah? I bought the tickets, dude.”

“I’m just surprised,” Castiel says honestly.

Dean stares at him. “This is seriously comin’ out of nowhere for you?”

“A little,” Castiel says defensively.

“Seriously?”

Castiel shrugs helplessly. “You’re … you. You’re famous. Why would you ask me?”

“Because I like you?” Dean says, nonplussed. “You’re nice in a way a lot of the alphas I know aren’t, and,” he breaks off, reddening, “you said you didn’t mind that I didn’t fit in with other omegas, looks-wise-”

“I don’t,” Castiel interrupts. “I think you’re the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen.”

Dean gapes. “Did you seriously -” he breaks off, apparently unable to voice the rest of his thought. His face turns an impressive shade of crimson.

Castiel shoves his hands in his pockets. “Should I not have said that?” he asks, brow furrowing. This can’t be the first time Dean has been complimented on his looks. As Castiel understands, good looks are one of the main precursors to acceptance in Hollywood.

“No - I mean, maybe - never mind,” Dean fumbles, more out of sorts than Castiel has ever seen him. “It’s that nobody just out and says that, even to me.”

“I just did.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Dean says, but he’s smiling. “You should look in the mirror sometime, though.” He winks, and Castiel’s brain nearly fritzes out. “So that’s a yes?”

Castiel nods, an all-encompassing warmth filling his chest and exploding out to the tips of his fingers and toes. “I’d love to.”

“It’s a date.”

Read Part II here!

#destiel fanfic #fanfic #destiel #profoundnet #rae writes fic #alpha castiel #omega dean winchester #alpha beta omega dynamics #celebrity dean winchester #barista castiel #professor castiel #the original apple pie latte

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memoriashell · 3 years

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MISC. TITLES AND AUTHORS. FROM: Danganronpa 4KOMA Vol. 3

hello! i’m once again challenging myself this month by attempting to put out several collections of ishimaru-centric content from the 4komas (and one anthology comic) leading up to his birthday at the end of the month. seeing as i’m already behind the schedule i put myself on, we’ll see how this goes.

obviously these aren’t the only comics from the third 4koma volume that he features in, but these are some of the ones he features in more prominently/needed a few extra to throw in just to make it look nice! forgive my awful frankensteining of putting comics together, but i was worried about how it’d look on tumblr otherwise. images are in order from left to right, but when referring to the summaries under the cut, the comic on the right is listed first, and the left is listed second; following the way that manga is actually formatted.

disclaimer, i’m not fluent in japanese, nor would i call this a perfect translation, just a rough one to get the basic understanding! i have the comics individually on imgur with fuller translations (i didn’t finish translating the sfx orz i’m sorry), i only have rough summaries under the cut here!

(i’d also like to briefly disclaimer that the 4komas are gag comics, i.e. meant to be taken jokingly. that doesn’t necessarily mean i agree with some of the things that are used for jokes here, like hifumi being used as a joke simply for his weight or syo’s fetishization [of gay men] as a fujoshi)

as for usage: if you’re going to use the raws for anything, or reference the rough translation that i’ve given, i’d appreciate some credit (via a reblog is fine!), or a link back! however, such is not necessary, and otherwise, you’re free to use however you wish, since the only thing i really own are these particular scans.

1: Gutsy Chihiro-Chan by Akazuki Sho : The general jist of this one is that Chihiro tries to be strong by interupting Mondo and Kiyotaka’s arguing...only to be interrupted and pushed around when they try to do so.

Handsome Guy Criteria by Akazuki Sho : Because Genocider Syo’s targets are ‘handsome guys’, the boys in this comic feel safe. Byakuya tells them to take a look at the profiles [the joke being here that Syo’s targets aren’t exactly ‘handsome’, resulting in them feeling less safe]

2: Heart-Pounding Ticket by Watarizora Tsubamemaru : Syo gives Kiyotaka an outing ticket (school mode). Kiyotaka’s under the impression that he’s speaking to Toko, and presumes she wants to study with him. Syo however, wants him to use the ticket to ‘ask out’ Makoto, and the pair are confused about how this outcome is enjoyable for her.

It's also troublesome to explain by Itagaki Hako : Makoto concludes how the killer could commit the crime. Kiyotaka isn’t fully satisfied, and inquires about the relevance of the killer’s clothing to the crime. When he receives no response, he asks what’s wrong, saying Makoto’s deductioning was fine.

3: Needless concern by Nananse Ichika : Kiyotaka expresses concern that Makoto’s shoes don’t fit him, and gifts him a set of ‘properly fitting shoes’. The implication here being that these are a pair of boots (either a pair of Kiyotaka’s or ones similar to his), as Makoto notices a sudden height difference, and finds it overwhelming-- as Kiyotaka remarks that he’ll take care of getting rid of his old ones, Makoto yells at him to give it back.

Disturbance by Natsuka Kudan : Kiyotaka remarks on the way the other students dress, saying that they should be more like Toko (in the sense that she follows dress code). As Kiyotaka comments on how perfect [in a public morals sense] it is, Toko sneezes and causes Syo to emerge, and he retracts his statement.

4: First Impressions by Kawashima Rumi : Kiyotaka wakes up in the classroom at the beginning of the game, under the impression that he’d accidentally fallen asleep, he thinks he’s a failure [as a morals committee member], and barges into the entrance hall asking to be punished [by the teacher]. It then transitions to Kiyotaka introducing himself, noting that people [here] refer to him as ‘M’, to which Makoto suggests has to do with his bangs. [It seems to imply that this is the ‘punishment’ Monokuma gave him, although this is still a little...odd, I guess. Maybe because Monokuma or Mastermind start with the letter M? ]

Forced to make a detour by Kawashima Rumi : Based on the conversation between Makoto and Kyoko in Chapter Three, when Makoto says that he’s taking Kiyotaka to the dining hall, Kyoko insists on going with them. Makoto gets the impression that she’s trying to keep an eye on him initially, but later realizes that she just seems to be hungry.

5: Hypnotism by Shirataki Neko : This one’s a little nonsensical. Kiyotaka rambles a little bit about duties and such, but you only get parts of the conversation as the comic goes on, reflecting the joke of the comic. Which is that as they’re being ‘hypnotized’, they’re paying less and less attention to what he’s actually saying.

Bousou-debu** by Aoi Gamu : Not much that isn’t plainly obvious— Mondo uses Hifumi as a vehicle. Kiyotaka interrupts, but only to comment that they’re on the wrong side of the hallway, basically.

** I’ll include the break down translation notes for this comic’s title since it’s a little much... I wasn't entirely sure how to best translate this here, so I left it as it was. The title is clearly meant to be a play on Mondo's talent, SHSL Bōsōzoku. Debu is usually a rather derogitory way to refer to a fat person ( so think something along the lines of fatty/fatso ). If I had to translate the title, it'd probably be something like 'recklessly driving fatty', maybe 'fatty riding delinquent' given the context of the comic itself?

6: The School Mode ( Splash Page ) + School mode × Fujisaki by Rara (Lala) : Chihiro intends to try and get stronger while gathering items; however both pairs (Kiyotaka/Mondo and Sakura/Aoi) insist on doing it for her. Makoto seems surprised when Chihiro comes to do cleaning duty, but it’s only because they have no other work to do.

#danganronpa #dr1 #kiyotaka ishimaru #makoto naegi #chihiro fujisaki #mondo owada #toko fukawa #okay techincally it's syo that's the most reoccuring but #i'm not entirely certain which tag fandom uses most for them. rip #anyways that should be enough tags that's the most important ones i think.#on god okay. uh. i still have no clue if people read the tags or not BUT #if the ishida fans are wondering YES i do have ishida 4komas.#i'll be doing an ishida-centric* post for all of them at some point this month ideally #* most of them are ishida one of them is taka/mondo bc it's tangentially related to the ishida comic that follows #* mine #* zhi translations

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draceempressa · 3 years

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TW chapters before, have always been social and psychological, but chapter 5 in particular is a huge middle finger to stereotype-and common beliefs/views of stereotypes.

Many assumes Vil’s backstory involved him being poor, but Kalim already proves just because you’re rich doesn’t mean your life have no problem. And before the chapter starts, many people antagonize Vil for he is harsh towards Epel, and he’s the prettily elegant one, “the mean girl”, in haters’ words, when Leona and Idia, who are objectively bigger jerks, who are understandably more disliked in-universe, get passed in the fandom for they are relatable/more masculine/boyish. Yes, ugly people have their own problem. That doesn’t mean pretty people don’t have their problem, ranging from being harassed, prejudiced as superficial or being bitch, etc.

Media and culture, for years, have been painting masculinity as strength and femininity as weakness, lawful is bad and chaotic is good, the beautiful/elegant people is wrong and the cute ones are innocent/on the right side.

Riddle already have it bad for he is lawful, but Vil has it worse for he is not only lawful, but also being feminine and pretty. Not to say we have to be unreasonably lawful like Riddle or super strict like Vil, what’s I’m trying to say is, the mindset of law and femininity is purely bad and chaos and masculinity is purely good is wrong-though, generally “pure” mindset is wrong.

Related to this, TW actually run on gray morality, not black and white. You’re too black and you get hated (like Leona and Idia) , but if you’re too white you get laughed (like Deuce, Jack, Kalim) And it’s fine. Everyone can be both wrong and right in different times , and that’s how it is in real life too. Nobody is pure evil nor they are pure good . Purity (in concept and principle)is never good actually.

Many people are rooting for Epel for the points above, for he is both chaotic and want to be masculine, and antagonize the pretty, lawful and feminine Vil, but overtime fandom are proven to be wrong. Pome chapter is huge callout for the stereotyping mindset, as well, the previous points. What Epel wants isn’t “for people to look past his looks”, it’s “to be as masculine as possible in both looks and personality” . He is not fighting prejudice, he is simply giving in to the idea of toxic masculinity. He doesn’t want people to think he’s a badass despite his look, he want to be beefy so ppl can tell he’s a badass in first glance. His idea of masculinity is to talk shit to people , be beefy as possible, to pick fights and only fight with fists. He is projecting the idea of masculinity to Jack, like how he says he wants to be beefy as Jack. It’s like when girls using a model, or basically someone else, to be her base of ideal beauty, which is equally unhealthy. It’s not fine even if it’s boys who do it, as it’s still not accepting who you actually are.

Speaking about Jack, he too is a victim of prejudice. In his robe story, Ace is surprised he’s from Pyroxene and not the Savannah., implying the prejudice beastmen only come from the savannah (and gladly Riddle immediately calls Ace out for it), in his voice lines, he is offended by Ruggie’s disbelief reaction when he says he never got red mark in exams, and he is also offended when MC is shocked he says he want to go to the library, implying the prejudice “beefy men must be brainless muscle”. Jack, is still proud of his beastmen heritage and is sporty and active, but he is also fighting prejudice of beefy men are dumbasses by studying as hard as he does his physical exercises.

We are also fed by culture and media that the word “ugly” and “beautiful” is limited to just visual things, when Pomefiore, Rook and Vil makes it clear “beauty” is everything that can be your advantage/power or your every good trait (like being unyielding, having bond and understanding others, and having special code of conduct). Which it means, the opposite also applies-that the word “ugly” Vil mentioned to himself before his overblot is more referring to his other traits. That he finally cheats, that he is weak and gives in to his stress-if he thinks strength is beautiful then he must thought weakness is ugly.

Not to say looks doesn’t matter, because it is, as we humans are visual creatures, and if visuals don’t matter, we don’t only wouldn’t have fashion or beauty care products, or visual arts, but even visual informations like newspapers, books, or even socmed pages, and fashion can be a form of self expression. The problem is when people don’t use their brain and see past through someone’s looks. Looks is part of one’s identity, but it’s not all there is to them.

Riddle paints himself as the judge and executioner, not only establishing law of the Queen of Hearts but also punishes people who crossed her rules on the place with his UM and decapitating them from their magic. Vil, meanwhile, paints himself as a tutor. He’s strict, but he’s not lawful for the sake of law. He seeks to help people grow, to taught people things, but being strict teacher he is, he refuses to teach in first go, letting you try your own method first (Deuce’s lab coat story),or that when he agrees to help, he will teach you how to do it instead of doing it and gives you the final result (Jamil’s dorm uniform) . He is explicitly nicer to people who are willing to learn (his own Halloween card) Alternatively, he can be pestered to help (Halloween, Malleus pretty much pestering him with the whole western dragon vs eastern dragon difference for one hour ), or,despite all his complaints, he will help anyway (Ghost Marriage, Vil mentions Idia often asks for his help) . He also congratulates ppl who did grow well, even if they did beat him. (fairy gala ending, Epel when finally admitting cuteness is advantage too, Deuce right after he beats him) , he is fine with people hating him as long they actually develop themselves-that he thinks his responsibility is to help ppl grow, not to make ppl simply adore him (his own dorm uniform)And he also breaks the pattern of great seven incarnate harassing MC and gets gradually more hostile about it. He can also appreciate other’s kindness (his own robe story), as well strong point (PE voice line, he openly admits Epel’s strong point in flying), and can even show some sympathy (not empathy ) (Ortho’s ceremony gear)

Leona insults others to feed his superiority inferiority complex and knows where it hurt (like calling Riddle Red Midget or bastard octopus to Azul-note, that was the insult Azul used on himself on his self deprecating moment after his overblot) , Vil insults other as the ones he deems unworthy yet to call with name, but potatoes, French for potatoes is “earth’s apple”, also back in the day ppl are scared to eat potatoes bc they are still related to nightshade/belladonna and said to be devil’s plant , only after they get past the prejudice they eat potatoes. So yeah if he call you by name , it means he already acknowledge you to certain degree, and if he still uses vegetables he’s still deems you unworthy-no romantic hc blogs it’s not what he will call his s/o

Fandom complained, “save Epel, he doesn’t fit in Pomefiore, and he’s stuck” but is he? He did , in fact, have a choice, mentioned in Jade’s dorm uniform by Vil “You know how to change dorms, right Epel?” It’s by his own admission he stays in Pomefiore bc his pride to prove Vil wrong that “cute isn’t a strength on its own” Besides, Pome isn’t just about being yourself (despite being art neurodivergent and defying gender norms), it’s also not about picking your fight-instead, it’s about picking the method.

Again, we are fed to the idea femininity is weak by other media and culture. In TW,yes, Vil is obectively the most feminine of TW cast, but weak? Definitely not.He can beat the beefy guys physically (PE uniform voice line), easily, and magically, he is strong enough to be able to make barrier than can protect people from MALLEUS (Cater halloween) , and when he’s overblot, he is the only one so far you failed to beat until Deuce used the counterattack using his own magic. Kalim isn’t joking or is in the clouds when he says Vil is one of the strongest mage of the school.

Yes, Yana says fuck patterns and stereotypes, but it’s not like she pulls plot twists randomly out of her ass.She always put foreshadowings first. Vil being bullying victim already mentioned as early as his robe story,, that the overblot cause is always something that is already problem to them even BEFORE NRC-Epel was able to curb people before NRC and get away with being a jerk, it wasn’t until Vil beat him in opening day that he started to be stressed about the whole manner thing. that he doesn’t like things that doesn’t last from his school uniform, and the previous mentions of Vil’s tutor traits above that he’s not as malicious , not just the mean girl fandom make him to be. Chapter titles always refer to the local great seven incarnate, not specifically the prefect. “Desert’s Tactician” is clearly Jamil, not Kalim.Being a strategist is certainly not Kalim’s trait. Chapter title not referring to him, he wasn’t stressed before NRC, and the blot dripping scene happes without him, why the surprise it’s not Epel who overblot ? the build up is all there.

#twisted wonderland #vil schoenheit #epel felmier #jack howl

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kraviolis · 3 years

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sorting the owl house characters into hogwarts houses, because im cringe

luz - ravenclaw

she’s creative and clever and is always searching to learn new things and loves learning just for the sake of learning. shes incredibly witty and quick thinking and open-minded. she’s constantly finding clever, creative, and original ways to solve her problems. she hardly blinked when given the opportunity to learn magic, and only continued to show an intense amount of intelligence and appreciation for academics. shes very resourceful as a human learning magic, finding a entirely new form of magic when it was apparent that she couldnt do it the traditional way. she’s very aspiring, wanting to be a witch and an author since she was very young. she’s very logical about a lot of things, like how it doesnt make sense to not allow witches to study multiple tracks or that people were imprisoned just for being themselves. she’s highly encouraging of individuality which is a lesser known trait of ravenclaw but very important. she can be a perfectionist at times and tended to avoid social interaction so she could persue her creativity. she’s outspoken, an overthinker, and very competitive. i think a lot of people might say she’s a hufflepuff, as she’s loyal and kind and hardworking, but luz values learning and creativity above any of those other things— this is evident, when she makes the decision to stay in the boiling isles to learn magic rather than go home to her mom, thus putting knowledge and creativity over her own family.

eda - gryffindor

she’s not afraid to stand up for herself and others and will never back down from a challenge. she would rather die as herself than live unauthentically. she’s very passionate and empathetic. she’s rebellious against rules that dont make sense to her and cares intensely for her friends and family. she has a strong internal moral code that she sticks to intensely, never straying from it. in the very first episode, she breaks into the conformatorium just to get a paper crown thats important to king. she let raine break up with her because she didnt want to burden them with her curse. she forfeited the match with lily because she knew her sister wanted to be in the emperor’s coven more than she ever did. she’s sacrifices herself for luz & king over and over again because she cares so deeply for her.

king - slytherin

he’s self-centered, smart, arrogant, and highly ambitious. he would do anything to achieve his goals— which was at first reclaiming his throne as the king of demons, and then turned into finding out where he came from. he tried to use luz as a means to reach his goals when he became an author, nearly sacrificing their friendship. he became incredibly loyal to luz after that in the same way he’s loyal to eda, the one who raised him.

(other characters under the cut)

lily - slytherin

it was between this and ravenclaw, because she’s incredibly intelligent and does seem to enjoy learning and has a great mind, she’s also incredibly ambitious and prideful. the deciding factor was that she cursed eda just to reach her own goals. she’s still loyal to eda even when working for belos, which says a lot to how she’s loyal to only a select few people. to her, the ends justify the means (making amity cheat to appear like the better teacher, cursing eda to win the duel, kidnapping luz to get belos to cure eda, losing her magic to help eda)

amity - gryffindor

this one was hard, i swapped between slytherin and gryffindor a lot for her. she’s ambitious and intelligent, but also not afraid to do whats right even if means breaking the rules. she’s self-sacrificing and empathetic and prideful. she ended her friendship with boscha to help luz and willow win. she didnt like luz at first because luz kept cheating and messing up her life, which means she has a strong moral code against cheating and bullies. she’s rebellious in small ways at first but once she started realizing how terrible her parents and belos really were, she pulled away extremely quickly.

willow - slytherin

not surprising, if you take into her account of self-preservation and bending of the rules to suit her ambitions. in the first episode she agrees to cheating just to get ahead in school because she wants to make her parents proud, and in the end she switches to the plants track so to her the ends justify the means. she pulled out of the grudgby game when luz pushed her & gus too far, a perfect example of that self preservation. she has a sense of loyalty that extends to very specific people but she always makes sure those people are taken care of. her parents, luz, gus, and eventually king, eda, and amity, too. she wouldn’t die for them, but she would kill for them.

gus - hufflepuff

sure, he has the ravenclaw curiousity and thirst for knowledge, but he’s very kind, hard working, has a strong inner sense of justice and fairness, and is tolerant of others. he helps mattholomule even if he’d been a jerk before because it was unfair if he didnt. he helps luz break into belos’s castle to find a cure for eda, lets luz borrow his library card to see amity, and hated it when mattholomule tried to lie about the human objects. he knows what it feels like to be left behind and underestimated, so he makes an effort to be kind to others who seem to be in the same boat. he’s very young but already so accomplished which is a testament to how hard he works.

hunter - hufflepuff

this one was HARD. it was either slytherin or this, and a deciding factor for this is the fact that he is self-sacrificing. he sacrifices a lot for other people, even if it doesnt seem like it. in the palisman episode, he sacrifices the palismen getting away despite knowing he would be punished for returning empty-handed. in eclipse lake, he leaves to find the titans blood for belos when he simply could have stayed in the castle and been safe. he’s viciously hard-working, dedicated, and loyal to his family. he lets people’s actions speak for them. he doesn’t immediately judge luz for using wild magic and actually seems interested in it before remembering to be loyal to belos. he’s patient, too, as seen by his interactions with luz. he gets frustrated, sure, but he still works with her. he’s modest about his rank and title, preferring to not flaunt it more than needed. but he does take pride in it. he’s kind in his own way, specifically to belos and lil rascal, but you can see it in his interactions with amity & luz, too. with amity, he empathizes with her and gives her advice that he thinks is true, and offers to dig a grave for her too when its apparent that neither of them are getting any titans blood. with luz, he gives up the palismen and protects her from kikimora. that boy is a hufflepuff for sure.

raine - gryffindor

oh buddy theyre the biggest gryffindor ever. they extremely, extremely brave. they have terrible stage fright and anxiety but they still became head bard, and they still ran an underground resistance group, and they still gave everything up just to help eda. they have a strong sense of whats right and whats wrong and incredible amount of passion, empathy, and integrity. they have a great sense of pride— “How did someone with stage fright end up as Head Witch?” “I’m just that good.”— and are very selfless. they stopped eda from sacrificing herself because they knew her kids needed her more, they sacrificed themselves in eda’s place and gave up everything they had just so eda wouldnt have to.

camila - hufflepuff

she’s extraordinarily kind, even when she’s terrified. she’s accepting and open-minded and hardworking, making sure to show luz that she loves her creativity but still wants to make sure luz can do well in school and can make friends. sometimes you can do something you think is kind but isnt really. she’s also a single mother doing her best to give her daughter a good life, which is a credit to how hard she works and how dedicated she is to her daughter. she even took the day off of work to drive luz to camp because she knew luz was anxious and wanted to reassure her. she’s patient with luz, and even when faced with the scariest moment of her life, she’s still thinking of how luz feels rather than her own fears and anger. she’s very much a hufflepuff in the way that she’s quiet and unassuming but fiercely protective of her family.

vee - slytherin

she’s opportunistic and has a sense of self-preservation. she’d rather save her own skin than do that right thing. she’s cunning, having pretended to be camila’s daughter just to have a place for herself. this isnt a bad thing at all, though. she’s also loyal to camila, who she sees as her family, and even got into a fight with luz over how she treated camila. she still listened to luz and let luz help her so that vee could remain living as luz. she doesnt feel guilty about valuing herself ahead of luz.

belos - ravenclaw

honestly? not a hard decision. he’s smart, sure, but he’s not people-smart. he didnt think lilith would betray him after he admitted to lying about healing eda. he doesnt understand loyalty, not even to those close to him. he’s rational and logical rather than emotional. if the theory that he is philip wittebane is to be believed, then its obvious he has an appreciation for learning and knowledge. belos distinctly reminds me of lockhart, or even quirrell, who were also in ravenclaw. he’s got an arrogance to him that blinds him, believing himself to be the smartest and strongest witch on the isles and thus underestimating others, which will only lead him to ruin.

#the owl house #toh #toh spoilers #the owl house spoilers #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #king clawthorne #amity blight #krav talks #my writing #character analysis

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